


Aha!

by ThrillerTheKiller



Series: How To Be a Human Being [1]
Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: :(, Abandonment, Accidental Pregnancy, Angst, Angst and Fluff and Smut, Anxiety Attacks, BENDY IS A KINKY FUCK CONFIRMED, Begging, Being Walked In On, Bendy doesn't like his tail being pulled, Bendy is a dork, Bendy is a fag, Bendy likes his horns being petted, Bendy/Reader is just Joey/Henry 2.0: the sequel nobody wanted, Betrayal, Biting, Blow Jobs, Bowties as Handcuffs, Brainwashing, But before he comes back, But he cares in his own awful way, But he won't admit it, But not between Reader and Bendy, Child Neglect, Choking, Control Issues, Cults, Daddy Issues, Daddy Kink, Denial of Feelings, Emotional Infidelity, Emotional Manipulation, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Face-Fucking, Face-Sitting, Feral Behavior, First Time, Frottage, Gags, Gloves as Gags, Handcuffs, Hate to Love, Homophobia, How Do I Tag, Hybrids, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, I Don't Even Know, I Love Bendy, I Made Myself Cry, I have too many tags, I'm Going to Hell, I'm Sorry, I've basically told the entire story with these tags, Illustrated, Implied/Referenced Masturbation, Ink, Joey is a single dad who doesn't understand right from wrong, Light Bondage, Loneliness, Mental Breakdown, Multiple Orgasms, Near Death, Neck Kissing, No Henry, One-Sided Attraction, Overstimulation, Parallels, Past Drug Use, Pet Names, Poor Bendy, Porn With Plot, Porn with Feelings, Possessive Behavior, Praise Kink, Pre-Canon, Psychological Torture, Reader isn't much better, Reader-Insert, Self-Hatred, Shower Sex, Slow Burn, Stabbing, Stalking, Suicidal Thoughts, Survivor Guilt, Symbolism, Tags Contain Spoilers, This Is STUPID, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, This is after he leaves, Torture, Unplanned Pregnancy, Voice Kink, What Was I Thinking?, Why Did I Write This?, tag me like you mean it daddy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2018-11-17 01:32:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 32
Words: 238,194
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11265189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThrillerTheKiller/pseuds/ThrillerTheKiller
Summary: You just got out of high school, and you're a volunteer at a local (and failing) animation studio in town. It's not too boring, however. There's always floors to mop, things to be dusted, and ink spills to be cleaned.Above all, you have the unfortunate job of babysitting the douchebag demon himself, Bendy, to keep him from breaking everything in sight and driving the staff insane.But when he gets the wonderful idea of bulldozing into your life and staying there, you uncover a sinister core to the animation studio.You also aren't as alone anymore.





	1. Sunrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, I'm TK and here today to write a new Bendy x Reader fanfic, yay! Now, I usually operate on FanFiction.net, but they're STUPID and don't allow second person fanfics.
> 
> Okay, they're not stupid, but still. I may cross-post this on there with first person instead of second, but that's gonna require some editing, so... I'm dumping this here for now 
> 
> Not really much to say besides this fanbase is my new home and Bendy is a huge ass (I love him), so read on and enjoy!

It was a cool, spring Saturday morning in a quaint town, birds chirping and bees buzzing. Dawn faded, staining the sky pink, and clouds scuttled across the heavens. Few people were awake, waving to their neighbors before carrying on with their business. People hurried off to school and work and, in one girl's case, her internship.

That's right. You volunteered at a local animation studio, earning community service hours, although you didn't need them. They just looked good on job applications. You didn't do anything dreadful: you helped the staff, cleaned up ink spills (which somehow found themselves into every nook and cranny), occasionally animated things for your own enjoyment, babysat some of your "co-workers" (using the looser term -- you'll understand later).

Easy enough, right?

Too bad there was a massive nuisance you had to deal with.

But you wouldn't let that bother you. It was beautiful outside. Proving your point, a flock of cherry blossom petals floated by, tickling your nose. You stifled a sneeze and moved on, readjusting the bag on your shoulder.

The walk to the animation studio wasn't long, although driving would be acceptable. It was a twenty-minute stroll at least, and besides, exercise is nice. You couldn't barricade yourself in your house and hiss at every beam of sunlight, no matter how much you wanted to.

Be social, you told yourself.

More like forced.

Suppressing the negative thought, you sighed and pushed onward to your great internship.

Hardly a heartbeat passed before you made it to the studio. The building was old fashioned and made of wooden boards. A sign reading Joey Drew Studios hung over the entrance. You didn't notice the man -- as tall as he was skinny -- at the door until you approached him.

It was Joey Drew himself, who noticed your arrival with a pleasant smile.

"Hello, (Y/N)," he said, glancing at you. "Have a nice night?"

"Yes, sir," you answered in a crisp, business-like tone. "But I didn't really do much. How was your night? Didn't sleep at the studio, I see.”

Joey Drew smiled, but the grin soon slid off his face like ink and he sighed. "No, I felt like a night away is what I needed. I didn't feel like dealing with... well, you know."

You wholeheartedly understood. "Babysitting the little demon really does take it out of you," you sneered.

"Hey, now, don't act like that with him, (Y/N)," your boss scolded. "He really does like you. Everyone has to give him a chance. Now, ladies first," he finally managed to find the right key and opened the door, holding it open for you.

You dipped your head to him in thanks. "I still don't understand how you managed to actually make him with a machine."

Drew didn't answer. He shrugged, and his smile became somewhat manic. Turning away before you saw, Joey flicked on the lights. No one else had arrived yet, so he waved you away.

"You can draw or animate if you want, but make sure to keep an eye out for--"

"I know," you cut him off. "Bendy."

The little shit was probably stealing your pens and ripping all of your paper.

Or spilling ink everywhere.

Either way, he was doing whatever he could to annoy everyone. The other two, Alice Angel and Boris the Wolf, weren't nearly as bad as him. They occasionally stained something on accident, yet Alice Angel was especially sweet. You liked them, but they were never your favorites in the cartoons. Bendy was. Too bad he turned out to be a dick.

lt was amusing when he acted like an ass on screen, but in real life, his antics were downright annoying.

Yet you loved to go home and watch the cartoon, hating yourself for the warm, happy feeling it gave you.

Bet the little devil's in my office, you snarled to yourself and slunk down the hall, preparing yourself for whatever awaited you.

You rounded the corner and found...

Nothing. Well, Bendy was there sulking underneath your desk and overall being weird, but he hadn't demolished anything or spawned Satan.

Bendy didn't notice your presence. You dropped your bag on the floor and leaned against the corner of the wall, arms crossed, then cleared your throat.

The cartoon demon twisted and peered out from underneath the desk. His cartoonish black eyes glittered mischievously when he saw you.

"Heya, (Y/N)," he grinned and showed off his gleaming fangs. "Didn't know ya came in this early. Did'ja miss me?"

"Get out of my office you little ink stain," you snapped, ignoring his cheeky comment.

"You call this an office?" he asked, clearly enjoying the charade, beam widening. "Besides, is that any way to greet me?"

"Out! Out, out!" you ordered and pointed at the exit down the hallway, shoulders squared.

Bendy huffed and crawled out into the open. Dignified, he crossed his arms and strode toward you.

"D'you have any ink?" he asked warily. "It’ll make me taller. I really don't feel like being three feet today."

"No," you deadpanned. "Now get out.”

The ink demon glared at you and stalked down the hall, out of sight. You sighed when he left and rubbed your temples. He was a complete nuisance. You stretched and sat at your desk. The lamp was already on, so you searched the tabletop for a pen. Frustrated, coming up with nothing, you realized your pens had disappeared -- and knew who took them.

"BENDY!" you hollered, leaping up from your seat so fast your vision blurred. "Ugh, when I get my hands on you--!"

There was a distant laugh echoing from the bowels of the studio. Anger swept over you, but you decided against pursuing the cartoon devil. Instead, you strolled down the hall to a supply closet, needing to borrow a pen. The short walk was peaceful and eerie, a pipe’s groan occasionally piercing the silence.

Closing in on your destination, you bumped into something small and...

Inky? you thought, shuddering at the cold liquid.

You looked down. There stood a small cartoon in a strapless black dress, devil horns and angelic halo clashing beautifully. Her thick, jet-black hair gleamed and sat in delicate waves around her pale white face.

"Hi, (Y/N)," said Alice Angel in her usual dreamy tenor. "Bendy took all of your pens again."

"So I've noticed," you replied, drier than stale bread.

Oblivious, Alice agreed and nodded. "Mmm. If you're looking for him, he's by the staircases. I think he's trying to flood them again. When I asked, he told me to 'fu--"

"Don't repeat that," you interrupted, silently cursing Bendy for his lack of social skills (like you could hardly blame him).

"Oh." The ink angel was slightly disconcerted yet retained her dreamy expression. "Goodbye, (Y/N)."

She drifted away and dissipated around a corner. You shook your head to forget the strange meeting and strode into a nearby small supply closet, which housed dozens of pens. You took a few and backed out, ready to return to your desk, although there was what Alice had said about Bendy flooding a staircase...

You weighed your options. If you managed to keep him from destroying something now, you wouldn't have to clean later. Although the demon may find some other creative method to ruin your day, it couldn't possibly be worse than flooding an entire hallway.

You were so very wrong.

Decision made, you set off to find the source of your headache. Not even thirty minutes into your day and you wanted to go home.

Bendy wasn't exactly subtle. You heard him cursing and hissing a mile off, finding him dumping ink bottles down the stairs to the recording room.

"Having fun there?" you asked the cartoon character, stifling a grin.

"Great time," he answered with the best poker face you had ever seen. "Now do me a favor and fuck off."

You bared your teeth and retorted, "After you. Quit trying to make us miserable. I thought you wanted the ink to make yourself taller, anyway.”

"I did, but this is more fun," he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"You should probably stop," you warned, eyes flashing.

"How 'bout no," Bendy replied cheekily, then fixated his attention upon the pipes feeding the Ink Machine to hurl an ink bottle at them.

"Do you want Joey to lock you in his office and babysit you all day?"

Bendy stiffened and turned towards you. "No," he said, the gears in his head whirring.

"Then stop acting like a child and do something productive for once," you snapped, patience waning at the ink demon's failure to grasp the consequences of his actions.

The cartoon devil snorted yet straightened and dropped the ink bottles he had in his hands, marching away. "Do something pro-duc-tive," he mocked in a sing-song version of your voice as he slunk away.

You sighed and picked up the shattered glass bottles. There were still many shards left, but you couldn't sweep them away without a broom. Wally or Sammy had the keys to the supply closet downstairs, and neither was here yet. Sighing again, you dumped the pieces in the nearest trash can. Ink oozed down the stairs; hopefully it wouldn't ruin anything before you could mop it. Sometimes you wondered why you were enough of an idiot to arrive at the studio early. There was nothing to do, unless you wanted to chase Bendy and tell him off for his wrongdoing.

Unoccupied for the time being, you slumped back to your office and sat down, hunching over the desk to draw a silly animation of Bendy attempting to set the studio on fire.

You hoped he didn't see it and get any ideas.

Time lost meaning as your pen scratched the paper, creating a devilish grin, then a match, then tongues of flame to devour the workshop. Their heat seemed to radiate off the paper. Your eyes blurred and watered, and you wiped away the irritation. In the background, the entrance squealed as employees entered the studio. You didn't acknowledge the occasional cackle from Bendy and following screech of a worker as they chased him away from their general area and cleaned up whatever mess he made. There was only you, the pen, and the paper. The scratching noise the pen made when it touched its tip to the paper. The smell of ink. The raw expression, ink bleeding onto the paper and animating nonliving cartoons.

Around the end of your shift, Bendy slunk in out of the corner of your eye, searching for more mischief.

He saw you drawing, too wrapped up in your creation to notice his presence. The ink demon snickered, fingers twitching. He could have dumped an ink bottle over your head and howled as it soaked your hair and ruined your drawing, or he could have clapped in your ear and watched you jerk, stabbing your picture and creating a lovely inkblot.

Bendy loved inkblots. As he padded forward, womdering how to ruin your day, your bag caught his cartoon eyes. It sat against the wall. Open, unattended, and oh, so inviting. An evil grin adorning his pale, rounded face, he looked inside and began plotting.

Oblivious, you sighed and rubbed your eyes, disgustedly taking in your ink-stained hands. Hopefully they didn't smudge your face -- a fake black eye was the last thing you needed. There was no clock in your corner, so you knew not what time it was. Paper rustled beneath your palms. You were too exhausted to continue drawing. If you saw another ink splatter, you would lose your mind. The animation you had made was decent, although it was nowhere near as long as an entire episode of Bendy. It could make a halfway decent start for a short, but you had to show Joey Drew before making an assumption. He would compliment your work and insist that he paid you for it, despite his near-banruptcy and you being but a lowly volunteer. No matter his quirks, Joey was a kind man.

But Bendy would disagree.

He watched you collect your creations for the day and stand, then darted off to blend into the shadows when you turned around, slumping out of the hallway to show Mr. Drew whatever halfhearted piece of shit you made next. Bendy snickered, although he was blatantly lying to himself. You drew pretty well, for an amateur. Bendy was just hard to please and coudn’t care less. At least, he didn't show he cared. The cartoon demon glanced at where you had disappeared before running up to your bag. It laid against the wall, innocent and forgotten. Time to put his genius plan into action.

The cartoon devil melted into an ink puddle on the wooden floor.

Meanwhile, you stumbled through the hallways, blinking blearily as you searched for Joey. His office was empty, and you didn't think he was in the recording studio.

There was only one place where he could be: the Ink Machine. A shiver went down your spine. The sound, the room, the machine itself (not mentioning the enormous pit it hung over, leading straight to Hell)... it terrified you. It was unnatural. On your way to the room of nightmares, you glanced over at a grinning cardboard cutout of Bendy. Cute.

Too bad he was an asshole.

The Ink Machine room peeked out from around a corner. You took in a deep breath and walked towards it, ignoring a room down the opposite hallway where Boris stood, suspiciously scrutinizing a metal table. As you walked into the ominous room, watching from the balcony, the Ink Machine groaned and clanked loudly. You jumped and stumbled backward, then promptly fell on your ass. A pained gasp escaped your lips as you scrambled upwards and thanked the stars that Bendy wasn't there to see your humiliation.

"(Y/N)? Is that you?" A male's voice came from behind the large, loud machine.

Joey Drew stepped out from behind it and blinked up at you. His eyes glittered strangely in the gloom, and he swarmed up a ladder to the overhang where you stood. "What can I do for you?"

"Um, I have a few animations I made for the day, sir," you said as you bit your lip, holding out your drawings with a trembling hand. You wouldn't have been so shy if it weren't for being embarrassed right in front of your boss.

Drew took them graciously with an encouraging smile, despite his brow being furrowed in confusion at why you were acting so reserved, then flipped through.

"This is very good, (Y/N)," he commented without looking up. "At this rate, I may offer you a full job here instead of you just volunteering."

"That's fine, sir," you said, regaining your composure. "But I'm happy with the position I have now. It's getting a bit late, so..."

"Right, you must want to get going. Well, at least let me pay you for your help before you leave."

So began your daily routine at the end of the day. You offered Joey your creation, he complimented you, then insisted that he pays you for it even though he wasn't supposed to. It was only an internship, after all.

"Mr. Drew, you really don't have to keep doing this," you protested weakly. Truthfully, you received great pleasure in being paid for some stupid doodles, especially when you weren't meant to be paid. It gave a nice boost to your minimum wage paycheck at your actual job during the week.

Joey Drew simply waved your protests away as he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a leather wallet. "I'm not going to listen to your rejections, (Y/N), you deserve it. You're a great help. I honestly don't know what I'd do without your help around here. You don't even work here fulltime and you're more helpful than most of the staff! Cleaning messes, watching Bendy, and animating at the same time..." He pulled out two twenties. "As I've said, I don't know where I'd be without you. Thank you for your help, you deserve this," he finished then handed you the two bills. "Have a nice night."

"Y-You too, sir," you stammered as you took the offering. That's the most he's given you yet! "See you tomorrow!"

On that note, you turned and hurried away from the Ink Machine, then broke into a run once you turned the corner where Joey could no longer see your hasty retreat. Your heart was light. This was your best pay yet! You slid around the corners and the old wood floors squeaked as your feet slammed onto them. Soon, the hallway where you made your office came up. You rushed down it and scooped up your bag. Hands shaking, you almost knocked over the lamp on your table while trying to turn it off. You left once your workspace was clean. The bag on your shoulders was rubbing against you uncomfortably, but you ignored it. You got paid forty dollars!

Everyone else was leaving, too. A chorus of goodbyes rang through the fresh spring air as you hurried down the steps in front of the studio. You didn't stop to talk to anyone. Over the horizon, the sun finished setting, and the sky changed from pastel pink to dark orange and finally deep blue. It was warm outside. Daytime had heated the previously cool atmosphere. You took a deep breath in, holding it as you began to trek home. You relished the smell of blooming flowers and the crisp air. A dog barked nearby and tore you away from your tranquility. Being outside wasn't exactly your cup of tea, but it was enjoyable in small doses.

Undistracted, you now realized how heavy your bag was. It wasn't this awkward in the morning, was it? You snorted and readjusted it. Bendy probably dumped all of the trash cans' junk in it back at the studio. You wouldn't put it past him. The rest of the early nighttime walk home wasn't nearly as enjoyable as it was before with this on your conscious as you made your way home. After what seemed like forever, your small house came into view. You began jogging towards it, hands holding your bag as it bounced on your back.

You lived in a little neighborhood, where everyone knew and was friends with each other. Well, almost everyone. You weren't one for socialization, nor were one of your neighbors. You lived by an old couple who lived and breathed neighborhood gossip and loved criticizing you loudly whenever you passed by. You also lived by a group of college boys who were a few years older than you. There were five of them, you thought, but there was no way of telling since they never set foot outside their house unless it was past midnight. You were also somewhat certain that a few were drug addicts, considering a large billow of smoke you saw coming out of their window once and strange cars pulling up to their house, revealing hooded figures inside as they stepped out and ran up to the house, leaving packages behind.

Oh, well. They can do them. None of your business. It wasn't like you exactly cared about their well-being either, it just got mildly annoying sometimes. The old couple you lived by were apparently sitting on their front porch as you came up to your house. You knew because they began conversing in a not so private manner about how unacceptable it was that you weren't married yet, had no kids, didn't settle down, and your hair and outfit were absolutely atrocious. Again, not like you cared. They rarely touched a topic that actually bothered you. However, there was an almost unnoticeable twinge you felt when they noted that you were, well...

Alone.

You didn't acknowledge this jibe and unlocked your front door. The welcoming scent of your home swept over you. You immediately dumped your bag down and slammed the door behind you. No annoying neighbors, exhausting animations, or douchebag cartoon demons. Just you. An ache suddenly opened in your chest for some company. You quickly pushed it away, asking yourself, Who needs friends?

You have forty dollars. That's enough for now.

Before getting settled, you dragged your bag over to a room on your right, where a small table sat with a few chairs by it. You yanked your bag up onto it and walked over to a nearby wall, flicking the light switch. You then turned to your bag and unzipped it, revealing...

Nothing out of the ordinary. You huffed and began emptying it out. There was a stack of papers, a ratty sweatshirt, your (empty) wallet, and your two twenty dollar bills. You picked those out carefully and put them into your wallet. There was some more junk in your bag, but nothing to make it practically break your back the way it did. You dug around some more. As you reached the bottom, a clink greeted you.

Oh! You remembered. I brought some ink bottles to work today.

You pulled the group of bottles out. Ink swished inside. A cloud flitted over your gaze. You could have sworn that, however many you brought, that they were all empty. You stared at the glass bottles steadily for a second longer, then turned away after your eyes began to water. They couldn't just fill themselves, and besides, you could have just filled them up and forgot. You shrugged. No point in wondering. You turned away from the table and turned off the light. You could clean up later, but right now, you felt like you deserved some down time.

You took off your shoes, threw them by the door, and stretched as you walked down your foyer to the living room where your TV sat. Suddenly content and happy, you tensed your legs and jumped onto the couch in front of the TV. The remote sat on a small end table near you. You reached for it, turned on the TV, and draped yourself over the sofa luxuriously. Channels swam before your eyes, seeing but not taking anything in. It was mindless, brain rotting, but you who cares? You loved it

Unnoticed by you, a crack rang out from the room you left as an ink bottle fell to the floor and spilled to form a sticky black puddle. More glass bottles fell. A particularly loud crash rang out. You stiffened. What could that be? You muted the TV and listened. Another crack. You turned off the TV. If anything was afoot, you were going to take care of it immediately. Something interrupted your TV time. No one interrupts your TV time.

You stood up slowly, still listening. More crashes rang. You curled your lip, and slunk over to your dining room, remote in hands. Everyone should have a remote for self-defense, it's common knowledge. You rounded the corner, ready to strike...

"Bendy?!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... Did you like it? I'm probably gonna continue this, but I dunno when I'll update again so hang on tight! Bendy is a fag, you're a bitch, Bendy is secretly a complete softie, and you're just lonely.
> 
> Don't hide your sweet center or problems, please. Bottling stuff up ain't good.
> 
> Anyways, I have some pretty big plans, so stay tuned! Support me down in the comments below, too, and leave a kudos while you're at it. I live off of feedback.
> 
> I hope it's good, though... Tell me!
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.
> 
> (Find Me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThrillTheKiller)


	2. Promise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Title: The Remote Represents Your Virginity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back for Chapter 2, yeah! I basically wrote all of it today while I went up to Pennsylvania purchasing PERFECTLY LEGAL fireworks.
> 
> Haha, I love Roman Candles...
> 
> So anyway, it's done! This is just stupidity at it's finest and no content whatsoever.
> 
> Enjoy!

Night had fallen upon the quiet town, the silence unbroken besides the chitter of birds migrating back for Springtime. The air still had a Winter-ish bite to it, though, and it would be a few weeks before the heat took over. A flock of geese honked ahead as they flew in a v-formation. Fireflies glowed in the night. At one house, children were capturing the lightning bugs in small glass jars. They laughed in delight when one flew in and they slammed the jar closed. Meanwhile, at another home, two birds were fighting over a worm. They both beat their wings furiously, pushing each other away to grab at the worm and squawked angrily. They fought until a loud shriek came from inside the house they were arguing in front of and the two took flight in hasty surprise.

_"Bendy?!"_

You screamed, flinging the remote you held at the ink demon himself. It bounced off of one of his horns

"Ouch, (Y/N)!" he snapped, raising a gloved hand to his short horns. "How 'bout a warning next time?"

You stared at him and blinked incredulously, eyebrows raised to the ceiling. Instead of making a sensible reply, you began screaming incoherently, pulling at your hair and making wild hand motions.

"What the fuck?! Where did you come from?! How did you get here?! Fucking fuck!" You screeched and stamped your foot on the floor. "I have to deal with your ass at work, and now at home?! I hate you!" The anger and resentment towards the cartoon demon you held suddenly bubbled over as he crossed the line.

Bendy glared at you and shook his head, splattering a few stray drops of ink onto your carpet. Now that was adding insult to injury. You glared at him, eyes wide, and waited for an explanation.

"Well, hate is a strong word..." he began arrogantly like he did nothing wrong and you were the one at fault.

If steam were coming out of your ears by now, you wouldn't be surprised.

The devil went on, ignoring the furious look on your face. "And the incessant cursing isn't necessary. I just thought I'd get out of the studio for once," he explained and suppressed a lazy grin.

"So you decided to come to my house?!" You gave a cross between a shriek and a snarl.

"Yeah," Bendy replied nonchalantly, "why not? I don't exactly get out of the studio much and no one else who works there is as fun as you." There was mock flattery in his voice as he said this.

You glossed over the poor attempt to appeal to your ego and glowered at him. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't throw you out right now."

Bendy's expression suddenly turned from amused to slightly serious and businesslike. "Because it would create complete panic to see a cartoon like me walking and talking. Remember the first time ya met me?"

You flinched inwardly at the memory. Definitely not your best moment by a long shot.

The ink demon went on, noticing but not acknowledging your reaction. "Joey wouldn't be too happy that his little secret got out. You'd be fired. Besides," his black eyes lit up again with a familiar mischievous glint. "I have a deal to make with you."

"Oh, Christ, why," you groaned and rested your face in one of your hands for a moment. "What the hell is it?"

Pulling at his bow, Bendy cleared his throat. "You let me stay here at night, out of that damned workshop, and I promise to leave you and your drawings alone whenever you're working. I won't even cast a glance at ya. I just wanna get outta the studio for once in my life." His shoulders slumped as he pulled his hands away from his bow. A depressed look flitted across his black and white features.

Now standing quietly and listening, you noticed the change in stature. A small feeling of... understanding burned in your stomach. You shoved it away angrily and refused to sympathize with the devil, but the feeling had still been there, nonetheless.

Going against your better judgment, you crouched down and looked the cartoon in the eyes. "So you did this only to get out of the studio and get a change of scenery?"

"Yup."

"You swear that you won't bother me at work?"

"On my life. Well, something I actually value, I mean."

"And you won't kill me in the middle of the night?"

"...no..."

"How long have you lived in the studio, exactly?"

Bendy's smile twitched. "I was made five years after Henry left, so twenty years."

You stood back and sighed. This was probably going to be the worst decision you ever made in your entire life, including running away from home, but you tapped into your sympathy and blinked slowly at the ink demon in front of you.

"You can stay."

The hint of sadness in Bendy's smile was whisked away by his usual cocky aura. "Finally! That damn studio and the idiot owner can fuck themselves! I actually get to see stuff!" He clapped his hands together and then paused. Apprehensive eyes glanced up at you. "Er... I guess I should say thank you," he stated ungraciously.

You looked back down at him, exasperated. "You're welcome, then. Please, just try to not make me regret this."

"Fine. Got any ink?"

"No," you continued looking at him distastefully. "Are you trying to flood my basement or something?"

"Nah, I wanna be tall. Like I said, I don't really feel like being three feet right now."

"When I go to work tomorrow at the studio then I'll take you with me in my car and you can get ink there," you replied in dismissal.

You were about to then walk away to once more watch TV after your free time was so rudely interrupted until you remembered your new... guest. Bendy stood by your table, eyeing you with his black cartoon eyes. He clearly disliked the height difference and didn't know what to with himself.

As you were turned away, you glanced over your shoulder and said, "Feel free to look around. Just don't break anything or go into my room. It's the one on the far right upstairs." You paused. "I probably shouldn't have said that," a worm of awkwardness burrowed into your stomach and you felt your face heat up. If the floor split open to swallow you up at that moment, you would have welcomed it with open arms. "Just, don't do anything stupid. Please."

"Promise," vowed Bendy with a wicked grin. That wasn't promising in the least bit, but it wasn't like you could babysit him all the time.

Like you didn't do that at work, too.

With a sigh, you slumped back into your living room down the hall and sat down. It was on but there was no sound. Only then did you remember that you left the remote back in your dining room with Bendy. This was already turning out great for you! A wave of exhaustion swept over your body and you threw your head over the back of the couch, giving off a sound that was a mix between a sigh and a growl. There was no noise from Bendy yet, however, it was only a matter of time before he started smashing all of your plates or staining the walls with ink. Why you made the promise to allow him to stay, you did not know. He probably manipulated your feelings on purpose just to stay in the house. Again, why? Why did he even want to stay? Was it the pure and simple fact of him practically feeding off of your annoyance or something different, something more?

You cursed your petty feelings. Thanks to them, your new roommate was a three-foot ink demon with a vicious streak a mile wide. It sounded so much worse when said explicitly.

By now, the flashing screen of the soundless television was getting on your nerves. You began mentally preparing yourself to rise off of the couch. No one interrupts your TV time? Not anymore. You pulled your gaze away from the bright screen and cracked your neck, then rose slowly. Static filled your vision and you shook it away while stumbling down the hallway once more. You rounded the corner to your dining room again and found...

Nothing. There was no Bendy, no ink, and most important of all, no remote. You collapsed inwardly, sucking in an angry breath. Not even an hour had passed and your relaxation time was going down the crapper.

"Dammit, Bendy," you snarled and began prowling the corridors.

Thankfully, he was nowhere in the kitchen. Once Bendy discovered what lay in that room and how easily glass broke, you would have absolutely no rest. He was nowhere to be found in the sun room at the front of your house. While checking underneath the end tables in said room, you stretched and looked out the window. Pale moonlight filtered between the blinds, casting an eerie glow on the hardwood floor, shoes strewn carelessly across its surface. One day, you would have to do a house cleaning. Not like you would be able to while watching a douchebag demon.

You left the room and began heading upstairs. You also realized just how much you fucked up by allowing a cartoon character stay in your house. Nothing would get done! Anyone who came over would see him and then they would turn tail out of the door. That is if they didn't panic first. Then a much more depressing thought hit you: No one really comes over to your house anyway.

Now thoroughly worn out and saddened, you combed through the rooms upstairs. If you found Bendy in your room after you specifically told him to not to go there...

You slammed the door to your room open and slunk in. Nothing was in sight, even after you poked through every nook and cranny that could be holding a devil in their depths. You were sick of the cat and mouse game the two of you seemed to be playing.

"If I were an ink demon, where would I hide?" you asked yourself in a low mutter. Almost immediately, the answer came to mind. You wouldn't be surprised if a lightbulb flickered over your head and you were also surprised that you didn't think of it before.

"The basement."

You hopped out of your room and thundered downstairs, jumping down two steps at a time. All of this for some quiet time in front of your television.

You stopped in front of the entrance to your basement, only to realize that the door was already open. Bendy definitely came this way. There was no ink for you to clean but you weren't complaining. Every trace of exhaustion swept away, you hurried down the stairs. It was dark. You blinked, trying to get used to the lighting, then abandoned any attempt at seeing in the suffocating black and began feeling around for the light switch. Instead of touching cold metal, your hands met what felt like a mix between a solid and liquid.

"At least take me on a date first," came a chilling voice.

You jerked your hand away, yelped, and stumbled backward. The dim lights flickered on, illuminating the tall figure that stood in front of you.

"Bendy?!" You squeaked and looked up, squaring your shoulders.

Somehow, he managed to double his height while away from your watchful eye. Seeing him so tall was immensely disconcerting.

He sneered at you, "In the ink. Also, you lied about not having ink. Ya had a huge shelf of it back there," he gestured with his thumb over his shoulder to a door behind him. "Been stealing it from the studio?"

"I've been using that!" you spat at him, still estranged by the new height difference. "If I didn't tell you about it, then it was probably for a reason."

"Whatever," he said in a mocking tone and stuck a forked tongue out at you.

You hissed at him. He laughed. It was strange how three extra feet could make such a difference. He actually seemed more human, what with his now narrow face and skinny limbs, despite his wonderful asshole persona still being intact.

"Did you use all of my ink?" you asked angrily while scanning him.

He crossed his arms and made a face that read _You're an idiot_ all over it. "First off, it wasn't your ink, it was Drew's, and second off... Yes!"

"Dammit! I needed that!"

"For what, hoarding?" the ink demon snorted. "You have such good habits."

You gritted your teeth. "No, I use that for drawing!"

Bendy's eyes lit up with a sharp glint that screamed for trouble. "Draw me, then?"

"No," you deadpanned and tried sidestepping him. He leaned on the wall, not letting you pass, grinning. You glared up at him. "Can you move? I'm trying to look for my remote, which you stole."

"S'not nice when people steal things, is it?" he mocked, shit-eating grin still plastered on his face.

"No, it's not," you replied steadily while studying his horns and refusing to look him in the eye. His horns now curved into a wicked, gleaming point. It was much more intimidating now than it was when he was shorter.

While the ink devil was opening his mouth to reply, you took your chance and darted past him, flinging open the door to the unfinished part of your basement and hurrying inside.

Instead of calling out at you, Bendy laughed. You stiffened and turned to face him. There, in his hands, was your precious remote.

"Looking for this?" he hooted, chest heaving with laughter.

 

"Fuck, Bendy!" you screeched and ran after the giggling cartoon character who had bolted away upstairs.

"I told you, take me on a date first!" he screamed at you from the top of the staircase as you clambered up after him.

"This isn't how I wanted to spend my weekend!" you cried out to no one particular.

And so began the tiring chase between you and the asshat demon. He ducked under tables, hid in corners, melted into ink puddles to make you slip, and overall pulled as many dirty tricks out of his sleeve as he could. The old couple who lived by you were now sitting in their home, hearing shrieks coming from your house and shaking their heads in disapproval. They muttered about how disrespectful young people were these days and thinking you were being a bit too loud with a few friends. Meanwhile, your other neighbors, the college boys, had taken quite a different turn. They compiled everything they ever knew about you and pondered on who would want to get in bed with you.

None guessed that it was a douchebag cartoon devil.

Back at your house, you just about had it with your new roommate. You worked your ass off the entire day, home was supposed to be where you could unwind and relax after a hard time at work. Despite your belief in this, you were more stressed now than in your entire life, including when Bendy had flooded the entire first floor and basement of the studio. He had insulted you personally by taking your remote. You just had to get it back but... You were so tired. Your eyelids drooped and your head pounded. Conflicted between resting and continuing to pursue the bane of your existence, you held a hand to your forehead and slumped against the wall in the hallway upstairs. Resting it was, then.

A heavy breath rattled in your lungs. It wouldn't have surprised you if you had a heart attack and bit the dust right then. Damn that ink demon.

Speak of the devil (quite literally), Bendy himself came stalking out of a room to your right and stopped at your feet. An air of wariness swirled around him.

"Um, here's your remote," he said sheepishly and held it out to you once he saw the state you were in.

You attempted to reach an arm up to take it from him and promptly fell over. At this point, you hardly cared. You just wanted your remote and sleep.

Bendy took in a breath impatiently, "Right, humans sleep, that's a thing. Get up, (Y/N), ya can't just lay on the floor."

"Why not," you muttered back, voice muffled by the carpeted floor.

"Get up or I'll drag you." You looked up to see Bendy staring at you, his expression dead serious.

You groaned and dragged yourself across the ground slowly over to your door. Eventually, Bendy snorted and pulled you up. "This is absolutely pathetic, y'know? Can't even walk across the hall," he muttered while propping you up as you slumped into your bedroom. Once you both got into the room, you fell face first onto your bed and laid there dejectedly.

"Kill me," you said, voice still muffled.

Bendy flicked his tail, replying, "Not tonight, but I'll be perfectly happy to do so on some other date if ya make an appointment beforehand."

"Fuck you."

"Again, I'd be more than happy to engage in procreation for fun, but please make an appointment prior."

You lifted your weary head to make a stinging retort, but before you could, the ink demon left. His snickers echoed throughout the (for the most part) quiet house. Taking a deep breath, you put your head back down and slid under the covers. Your eyelids shut the moment your head hit the pillow. A second after, the comforting darkness known as sleep pulled you into its black embrace.

* * *

 Sunlight dappled the carpeted floor. Outside, birds chirped, one of them being the same who had fought over the worm last night. It was a small bedroom, only with a dresser, desk, and bed in it, all pushed against the wall to leave as much space as possible. In the bed, under covers, laid a lump. It was a lazy Sunday morning.

A few minutes later, the lump on the bed began stirring. The blankets were suddenly kicked off of the bed, revealing the lump to be you, still in your daytime clothes from yesterday. You must not have changed into your pajamas. As you opened your sticky with sleep eyes, a headache began pounding behind your eyes. You groaned and rubbed your still tired optics and looked around the room. It was bright outside. Not making anything of it in your freshly awoken mind, you slid out of the bed and tumbled onto the floor. Mornings suck, and that's that.

For a few seconds, you wondered why you were so tired after what should have been a good night's rest. You remembered getting two twenty dollar bills yesterday. What else had happened? Thinking about it made your headache sharpen, so you dropped the subject and rolled over to your dresser on the other side of the room. It took all of your strength to sit up and begin rummaging through it for a new outfit. Why you decided you were too tired to change last night, you did not know. It really was a dumb decision on your part.

You picked out another simple T-shirt in your favorite color and some plain pants. The studio didn't require formal clothes but you couldn't just show up in an undershirt and sweatpants, no matter how much you wanted to. Damn dress codes. You stood up, stretched, and began getting dressed. It took a while, considering how bone weary you were. Forget dress codes, mornings were the Antichrist.

Once you had finished dressing, you headed off towards the bathroom down the hall to see how much of a mess you were. You looked at the mirror the minute you stepped in. Yep. You looked like you got hit by a pickup truck, complete with frizzy hair and bloodshot eyes. A sigh rattled in your lungs. You began brushing your teeth, then got to work on your hair, finishing up by cleaning your face. When you looked up, the reflection that stared back was halfway decent in your eyes. Nothing a hot cup of coffee couldn't fix. You flashed a quick smile in the mirror and left the bathroom. All thoughts of wondering what debauchery (debauchery!) you got into last night were flung out the window. Sometimes you even felt like throwing yourself out of said window.

The stairs creaked underneath your feet as you walked downstairs. A feeling of content covered your usual loneliness but you couldn't put your finger on why.

Well, who cared why? You didn't feel like hanging yourself for once, so don't look a gift horse in the mouth.

You hopped down the final two steps at once and made a left turn to your kitchen, where it connected with your TV room. Rounding the corner, you first saw pots and pans everywhere. Then cartons. Then...

"What are you doing, Bendy?!" you shrieked and all of the memories from last night flooded back like a dam being broken in your mind.

The ink demon sat crisscross on the floor, surrounded by a mess and looking up at you with a pleasant face.

"Hi," he said, blinking with narrowed eyes.

"What are you doing," you repeated, happiness whisked away by spite.

"Learning how to cook, obviously," he replied, tone slightly condescending.

As red flashed across your eyes, you debated on whether or not to pursue it. You decided to let go of it for once. The tension in your shoulders loosened slightly and you gazed at the cartoon devil levelly.

"Just, please, clean it," you exhaled and put a hand over your eyes.

Bendy flicked his tail, which stuck out from underneath him like an arrowhead. "Sure. Want a muffin?"

"You made muffins," you stated, holding onto the small drop of patience you had left.

"Well, no..." Huffing, Bendy turned away and crossed his arms. "I was going to, though..."

"Clean up," you snapped at the childish demon who claimed to be twenty years old. "I have to go to work. You probably should too, just so no one notices you're missing for almost a week in a row for when I go to my other job during the week."

"Great! Should I put on my suit?" he asked cheekily.

You decided it would be best to not reply. Bendy noted this and muttered, "Humorless ass," knowing fully well that you could hear.

Ignoring him again, you turned away and thought aloud, "What time is it?" You left the kitchen and Bendy behind and looked at the other end of the hall where a clock hung on the wall.

You narrowed your eyes at it from a distance and murmured, "Where's the hand pointing? Is that... Oh, shit, it's almost ten?!" Your voice rose despairingly. "Bendy, we're going now!" You hollered and slid down the hallway to the door. "Get over here!"

The demon stalked from out of the kitchen where it led into the dining room. "I was cleaning, like you said."

"Yeah, well, we're leaving now," you snapped back and started putting on your shoes. "Grab my keys off of the table, will you?"

An exaggerated sigh met you. "Ffffffffiiiiiiiiiiiine..." The sound of keychains clinked. "Y'know, there's a lotta glass here that someone could step on."

"And whose fault is that," you hissed in exasperation and straightened up to see Bendy hovered over you, keys in hand.

You snatched them from him and muttered, "Thanks," then spun around to open the door. Hand on the knob, you paused. "Um, make sure my neighbors can't see you leave with me," you started awkwardly. "It'd look weird if some cartoon character followed me out, right?"

"Right," he said when you looked over your shoulder at him. Ink began dripping into a pool at his feet as he melted into a puddle. "I'll be right behind you..."

"Weirdo," you whispered and unlocked the door, stepping outside and down the front porch with your ink puddle shadow close behind.

Luckily, your neighbors weren't out to notice how strange it was for a large, black puddle to be following you. Still, you speed walked to your driveway and jumped into the car that sat there forlornly. You opened the door for Bendy to... slip in? Do whatever ink puddles do to get into cars, that is. He jumped into the passenger seat halfway into reforming.

"Stain my seats, and I will kill you," you warned and shifted into drive.

You saw him grin at his reflection in the rear view mirror out of the corner of your eye while backing out of the driveway.

"Never would dream of it," he said smoothly, checking the gloss of his horns.

You rolled your eyes. Get ready to have the awkwardest week of your life with your new inky roommate.

Why did you make that dumbass promise?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love it? You loved it! Bendy is a cheeky ass, you're a humorless bitch, it's a match made in heaven!
> 
> Really, though, did you like it? Tell me in the comments down below! I also would like to thank everyone for the support I got last chapter, really warms my heart and motivates me, so thank y'all so much! A thousand blessings upon you!
> 
> Comment and kudos for more!
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	3. Message

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Release me from the present, I'm obsessing all these questions, why I'm in denial that they tried the suicidal session.
> 
> Please use discretion when you're messing with the message, man.
> 
> These lyrics aren't for everyone, only few understand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, y'all, it's TK and I'm super sorry this chapter is so late. I wanted my max wait to be ten days, but...
> 
> Things don't always work out. 
> 
> So, the thing is, I'm an idiot and I got every single last one of my electronic devices taken away for a week so that was a thing. Also, I haven't really said anything to anyone but you guys have a right to know the reason this took forever.
> 
> My dog has been super sick. She's real old, like, eleven years old and she's a pretty sickly breed. She's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, and if you know anything about them then you know they have severe heart problems. My poor baby has a lot of trouble breathing. Just walking around the house leaves her almost outta breath. She also got some kinda flu or stomach bug and she's basically been exploding out of both of her ends for the past week, so that's a thing. I've been taking care of her. I think she's gotten better but she's still really delicate and, y'know... old...
> 
> And my ferrets are assholes too so yeah.
> 
> All sadness aside, I really like this chapter! Character, secrets, awkwardness, it's got it all! I'm super proud of it. It's the longest chapter yet, not by a lot, but still :D
> 
> Read, leave a kudos, comment, and most of all, enjoy!

Morning sunshine warmed a dark black road, cool from the night. A dog barked in the distance. A cat slipped into a sewer opening. People rushed out of their house, doors behind them, trying to make it past the morning rush as everyone left for work. Children in one home sat on a couch, jar in hands, crying as they asked their father why the fireflies inside weren't glowing. He didn't meet their eyes when he muttered about being late for work and then strode out the front door. The children continued to cry. A hungry bird sat on a power line above the crowded road, eyes scouring the ground for any sign of food or scraps left behind by wasteful humans, not wanting to miss anything like it had missed the worm. It twittered anxiously and nestled its wings closer to its small, fluffy body. While getting comfortable, a quite wonderful person just cut off another gleaming car. The said car then honked loudly at the source of annoyance, frightening the bird. It jumped and flew off the power line to scavenge somewhere a bit more habitable.

On the ground, you hollered at the asshole who cut you off while pulling out of their driveway.

"Fucking dickhead!" you called, eliciting a muffled response in return from the person driving the other car. Despite not being able to hear it, you could determine that it was nothing good, judging by the finger they stuck out of their rolled down window.

You snarled and tightened your grip on your steering wheel. In the seat beside you, Bendy sunk lower into the chair, as if he wished it to turn into a bottomless pit (which, as you can see, is bottomless.)

When both drivers had given their respectful curses and went their separate ways, the ink demon stole a quick side glance at you. Your knuckles were white against the steering wheel and your face was flushed. He looked away. It wouldn't be fun for either of you if you noticed Bendy and began blaming him for all of those events. The cartoon character watched the scenery pass by out the window, wondering how he could have gone from perfectly confident to unconfrontational in a matter of seconds due to your temper. He supposed it was because of the deal you struck up last night. He definitely didn't want to ruin that.

Being stuck in the studio for so long took a significant toll on him. Sympathy? Interaction? Emotions in general? How does that work?! I certainly don't know.

Besides, he promised to not mess with you at work. At your home, however... Bendy smothered a creeping grin. That was a different story. It would also be quite fun watching you struggle through daily life while tripping over a douchebag devil. Even if he did end up on the wrong side of your road rage.

Meanwhile, you stared at the street in front of you and tried to keep your eyes from glazing over with red. You were barely conscious of Bendy shooting you looks out of the corner of his eye and then flashing them back towards the window. It only took a few minutes to drive to the studio from your home, and with your luck, you had managed to get pissed off in those minutes. The animation studio couldn't be far now. You had no idea how you were to explain your reason for being late to Joey. Hopefully, he really did appreciate your help and understood without an explanation, but then again... Were you really that valuable as an employee, a volunteer at that? Apprehension rippled in the pit of your stomach as you realized the perilous situation in which you stood. Being fired from a volunteer opportunity would look horrible on a résumé; this was supposed to make you look good! Now it would end up being a waste, all because of... Your eyes peeled from the road to rest on Bendy. By now he had perked up, staring avidly out the window, tail swishing at the foot of the seat. You curled your lip but stayed silent. If you got fired, then you were going to make sure Bendy realized it was his fault.

The demon looked over from the window and saw you staring. He gave a wide smile and remarked, "I know I look good but aren'tcha supposed to be watchin' the road?"

You snorted and rolled your eyes. "Just thinking about which horn I'll rip off first if I get in trouble at the workshop."

Bendy's beam faltered for a moment. He quickly regained his composure and crossed his arms. "That won't happen."

"And how can you promise that?" you replied with a false, sickening smile, more like bearing your teeth than anything. "You're not exactly the most trustworthy person in the building."

"Joey'll listen to me if I speak up," he replied promptly and turned away, masking his expression from you.

Your gaze hovered over the ink demon briefly, confused, before turning back to the street. Something about what he said had bothered him but you had no time to play psychologist at the moment. The studio was in sight. A coil of dread tightened inside you and your breath hitched. On top of being late, you were probably going to be sick on the studio's front doorstep. Great. You parked on by the curb at the edge of the street, where everyone else was already parked and turned off your car. No one was in sight. The workshop looked abandoned.

You turned to Bendy, wondering how you were supposed to smuggle him into the studio and found him looking back expectantly. Well, fuck. It seemed like you were the miracle worker in this situation.

"Um, you can sorta, y'know, melt into a... puddle, right?" you asked, not holding the cartoon's gaze.

"Yes," he replied, softer than expected. You still didn't look at him.

"Could you, er, do that, so I can get you into the studio?"

You finally looked up at him and saw ink dripping down his face.

"Got it," he gave a manic smile and held out a melting thumbs-up.

Soon, he was simply a large black puddle on the floor. You shivered and opened the car doors, reaching over the seat Bendy had sat in to open that door. The ink puddle promptly splashed out. You stifled another shiver and slipped out of the car, locking it. Bendy, or, at least, what made up Bendy slid across the pavement and settled into your shadow. Wrinkling your nose in disgust, you made your way up to the studio door. No one saw you, thankfully, as you silently stepped inside and made sure the ink blob himself was behind you before shutting the door. What little sunshine that had made its way into the musty building quickly flooded away, leaving you with an anxious chill. Bendy slid off into a corner and reformed, hidden in the shadows, silent. A jolt inside your guts surprised and confused you as you looked over to see him walking away without looking back. Then you realized: you didn't want to do this alone.

 _Who needs him anyway?_ You asked yourself, swallowing your feelings and straightening up.

Determination replaced your apprehension. You would take whatever you received with dignity. Reassured, you went down the same hallway as Bendy did. He was nowhere in sight. Good riddance. You rounded a few corners and found Joey Drew himself, with... Bendy?

The ink demon leaned against the wall while talking to the animator.

"Yeah, I think I just saw (Y/N) walk in, I mean, sure, she's late, but she's here, right?" he drawled lazily. "You're pretty lucky she's here to help."

Neither had noticed you. Joey wrung his hands and looked up to the ceiling. "I know. I hope you're right about her being here but I can't believe she's late! She's never late. I don't know what I should do, she is helpful, but being late when we need all the help we should get?" He trailed off.

"Well, ya can hardly blame her, with all the work she's been doin'. Maybe it just took it all outta her. Ya can't punish her for that. Y'know how it feels and you're used to it. She's only been working here for a few months so she isn't used to it. Cut her some slack. It's nice havin' my messes cleaned so I can make more," Bendy grinned but his black optics were dark whenever he met Drew's gaze. They usually had a mischevious glitter about them.

Joey sighed. "You're right. I know too well how it feels. You said she walked in?"

Bendy nodded.

The animator looked relieved. His shoulders sagged as if a weight was taken off of them. "Good. I'll greet her. Speaking of which, where were you early this morning?"

You stiffened while peering at the strange duo. Bendy was smart enough not to say anything, but....

"Keepin' outta sight. Y'know I don't like being out in the open all the time," the ink devil shrugged dismissively. "Just keeping to myself more."

"If that's the case, then that's fine. Just remember when I stay at night..." Joey paused. "You remember. Thanks for telling me about (Y/N)." The owner of the studio clapped Bendy's shoulder. The demon's entire aura shifted at the touch. He lost the lazy confidence in favor of a stoic face and tensed shoulders as if he was ready to spring. Then, suddenly, his expression switched back to his usual indifferent arrogance so quick you thought you imagined the change.

"Right, then, I'm off," Joey said his goodbye and turned to leave.

You ducked around the corner and scampered away to your office, hoping the animator didn't see you. You made it without being spotted and slumped down in front of the desk, heart pounding. Without any distractions, you had time to think. What was all that about Bendy cringing away from Mr. Drew? And staying at night? And Bendy actually defending you when you both didn't even know what your boss' intentions were? Before you could get to any explanations, Joey stepped into your workspace.

"Hello, (Y/N)," he said pleasantly.

You jumped and nearly fell out of your chair. Calming yourself down, you spun to face your boss. "H-Hello, Mr. Drew," you sounded breathless and scared. "Um, I... I-I... I'm sorry about, er, being late..." You felt hot shame wash over you and heat up your face when you saw the disappointment in Joey's eyes. "I'm so, so sorry. I won't do it again, I just..." You grasped your empty mind for the right words. "I just had a rough night." You finished lamely and managed to meet the animator's gaze once more.

His hard expression fell when he heard your apology. "I understand. I won't punish you because this is the first time, but please keep in mind that we need all the help we can get. I don't want this to happen again." He became stern.

"I understand," you replied in a mutter. You raised your voice and added, "Thank you."

Joey Drew smiled again and replied, "Of course. Now, I'll be getting to work, as should you. Make me proud."

On that last remark, he turned away, leaving his words hanging in the air. With a stifled sigh, you turned towards your desk, strangely depressed and began working. Your drawings were far from your usual quality. You couldn't help but be distracted by the odd behavior of both your boss and new roommate. Why had Bendy even stuck up for you in the first place? What did Joey do when he stayed at the studio overnight? Why was Bendy so... freaked out by Joey's gesture? The thoughts whirled in your head so fiercely you didn't notice that you had accidentally spilled an ink bottle all over your desk until the cold liquid touched your hand. You reeled away, disgusted, and shook the black drops off of your hand. It splattered on the wood wall. You glared at it then turned away, knowing fully well that you would have to clean it later.

Suddenly, your stomach growled and you felt a twinge in your guts. You remembered that you didn't eat since yesterday, without dinner at that, and reached down to the side of your desk to grab your bag. Your hand met empty air and you also remembered that you didn't bring because of how much of a rush you were in and that it was stained with ink. Suppressing an angry snarl, you rose up from your desk and stretched. Barely anything was done today. What was done had been soaked in ink. Hours of work, gone. You crumpled inwardly thinking about the abrupt turn your life had made. You walked down the hall, hoping it was time for lunch. No one was walking out, which made you unsure of yourself, but you continued on.

There was no sign of Bendy. You wondered briefly if this was a good or bad thing, then told yourself it didn't matter. He was keeping his promise. That was all that mattered. At the front door, you were greeted with none other than Susie Campbell herself, the voice of Alice Angel.

She saw you before she could open the door. "(Y/N)!" She gushed, grinning. "You're going out for lunch, too?" Her voice lacked the dreamy quality of Alice's, yet the resemblance was still striking. It was easy to imagine the small devil-horned angel speaking to you in place of her.

"Yeah," you replied hesitantly, stopping before you could reach her side. Susie was alright and the only girl beside you but still. She really wasn't your cup of tea.

"Yeah," she repeated, a dreamy tone wavering in her voice before she perked up again. "We should definitely go to lunch together! You never come with the rest of us and since we're both early today..." Campbell swayed a bit and looked over her shoulder with a grin. "We should go together. It'll be so much more fun than going with Joey, he's a bit, well, odd?" Her voice raised at the end as if she was asking a question. "I don't know. But come with me! We can both go in my car!" She raised her keys with a wide smile, flashing bright, movie star worthy teeth.

You briefly wondered how she ended up in a dump like this, then shifted gears as soon as you realized Susie meant what she said. She really did want you to accompany her. A quick and not very hard excuse came to mind soon, thankfully.

"I'd love you go with you," you began carefully, stifling a cringe when your coworker looked at you with hopeful, simpering eyes, "but I don't feel all that comfortable going in another person's car. I left my keys in my office somewhere, too, so I have to look for them. It'll take a while, I'm a mess, honestly," you inwardly flinched at the deep truth hidden behind your sugary words. "I need to go look now. Don't wait up for me."

Susie's expression faltered for a second. Her brow was furrowed as if she couldn't comprehend that anyone would reject her, which wasn't that far from the truth. The poor girl was used to getting what she wants. She got over the rejection quickly, however, perking up and replying, "Another time, then! Next time remember to bring your keys!"

Flashing a final blinding beam at you, she slipped out the door, humming. You rolled your eyes behind her and felt through your pockets for your keys. Oh, damn, you really did leave your keys in your office. They were nowhere to be found in your jeans. You spun around on your heel with an exaggerated sigh and stalked back to your desk, ready to do a full blown search of the entire corner, probably only to realize that they were on your desk the entire time. A few people walked past you to go to lunch while you were making your way back. Even the mere reference to getting food made your stomach snarl loudly, like a starving wolf.

Or bird.

Norman Polk waved at you in a friendly manner while leaving, which brightened your spirits a bit. You always liked him, mainly because he too didn't put up with Sammy's antics and had a few things to say about the many quirks of Joey Drew. Wally Franks walked alongside him, and instead of a wave, he nodded towards you. He was quite likable too, usually complaining about the Ink Machine instead of the actual people at the workshop, however. "If that little devil busts one more pipe, then I'm outta here!" You recalled him saying in many different variations on many different occasions. Bendy enjoyed tormenting him particularly. You assumed it was because of Wally's low tolerance of everything having to do with ink.

You made it into your office and surprise, surprise! Bendy was standing there, looking around your table quite suspiciously.

"What are you doing?" You glowered at him, making him stiffen and turn around to face you.

There was your daily dose of shit eating grin. "Just scoping the scene," he replied casually, despite his eyes flashing not-so casually.

"I thought you promised not to bother me? We made a deal!" You snapped, angry that not a single day had passed since he broke the promise.

"Hey, I didn't do anything to mess with ya on purpose, I just thought I'd take a tour through here while you were at lunch."

"Yeah, well, tour's over, time for your regularly scheduled program to return," you retorted and shooed him aside.

He stepped back and watched as you picked up your ink soaked drawings between two fingers, searching for your keys. His hands were held behind his back. An amused flicker went over his face when you dropped the soaking pages and leaned over the desk, brow furrowed.

"Where are my damn keys?" You hissed softly and bent over to look under the table and chair.

The ink demon cleared his throat for your attention and pulled his hands away from his back. "Y'mean these keys?" He asked once you looked towards him while bent over the chair.

You scrambled, falling off the chair with a huff, and immediately jumped up to draw yourself to full height.

Quite calmly, you stated, "Give me my keys." Your arm was outstretched towards him.

"Yeah, see, the thing is, I think I don't wanna stay at the studio during lunch anymore, too," he said, shrugging and looking up at the ceiling with mock apology, though his wide smile ruined the gimmick. "So, my thought was that you could take me with you to lunch too, just to stretch my legs, and you'll get your keys back!"

"That's a horrible idea," you deadpanned, still frighteningly calm. "Now, I want my keys."

"A horrible idea would be disagreeing with me. Y'know, I stood up for you this morning in front of Drew because of you being late, so you owe me."

Fury swept over you at the last sentence. "What?" You growled. "What?! Does everything you do have a fucking ulterior motive?! Are you using me?! You're trying to manipulate me, you damn ink blob!" Your eyes widened and face flushed while hollering at the devil.

Surprisingly, it seemed like you took him down a few notches. "What?" Bendy echoed you. "That wasn't... I didn't do as part of some big plan, I just... It wasn't! I was... I just remembered that I did that..." Even more surprisingly, he was getting flustered, expression just as angry and confused as yours as he squared his shoulders.

You raised an eyebrow, backing off a pace, but soon shook off the now familiar feeling of being estranged. "Just give me my keys and don't use me to get what you want."

The usual expression of mischief returned to the tall ink demon's face. "Sure, ya just have to get 'em first..." He drawled, his grin showing off long fangs.

"Give me the keys!" You yelled and lunged for him suddenly, only to crash into the wall when he sidestepped away from you towards the desk.

Pulling away from the wall and rubbing your head, you glared at Bendy. He hooted and sneered at your expense.

"Give me the keys!" You repeated and slunk up to him, spitting with rage.

He only laughed harder and raised the keys over your head. They jingled, taunting you alongside Bendy. You growled and slapped a hand to the top of your head, only to have the cartoon devil pull away even higher, laughing harder than ever before. Red clouded your gaze as you leaned forwards to grapple for the tinkling metal. Bendy pulled it back behind him, arm almost stretched to the limit. You curled your lip and reached for the keys. You felt, very faintly, Bendy's chest heaving with laughter while you grabbed at the keys above you. Squinting your eyes and ignoring the feeling (which was completely in vain, for you felt your face slowly heating up), you jumped up and snatched them away from Bendy, whose eyes blazed with hilarity. You immediately leaped off of him and puffed. Awkward? That was an understatement. It was more like middle school all over again.

Still giggling, Bendy peeled himself off of the desk and waved at you. "Have a nice lunch, (Y/N)!" He mocked while striding down the hall. His eyes met yours one last time before he rounded the corner out of your sight.

You glared at the empty air where he disappeared and left the small nook as well, heading the opposite direction, towards the exit. So much for not bothering you. Again, it was as awkward as puberty all over again. That was not a fun time in your life. Now that you thought about it, you never really had that many fun moments in your life. You sighed. Why did you keep thinking about all of these horribly depressing thoughts? Your stomach growled again, louder than ever before, so you silenced your saddening conscious and headed out of the workshop. Hopefully, you had enough time to eat since Bendy took up half of your break.

You hurried across the street in front of the studio, keys in hand, and unlocked your car. You slipped inside and started the vehicle. Where could you eat? While debating about your many options, you felt around the glovebox for your wallet. Then you remembered: you left it at home with your ink stained bag because of the rush this morning. You groaned and hit your forehead onto the steering wheel. The car honked in protest.

"Looks like I'll be eating at home," you muttered to yourself and shifted the car gear into drive, making a u-turn and following the road back to your messy house.

Lunch didn't take long. You picked your way through the clusterfuck that was your kitchen, made a sandwich, then sat down in the other clusterfuck that was your dining room, away from the ink that spilled all over the floor. Cleaning would be a bitch tonight. You ate as quickly as possible, devouring your favorite sandwich in a few famished gulps, then grabbed a water bottle and bag of chips for on the go. Not very healthy, but it would do, captain. You went back onto the road in a matter of less than ten minutes. Much to your relief, you made it back before a few people, so you weren't late.

The rest of the day went by slow, to say the least. Bendy kept his word (for the most part, taking into consideration the episode earlier that day) and tormented other employees. You caught a small glimpse of him while gathering cleaning supplies for the spill in your office but he was already disappearing down another hall with a flick of his long tail and didn't notice you. Alice dropped by, or so you thought, because she was so confused you wouldn't be surprised if she had walked in on accident. She only said a hasty hello and an even hastier goodbye. You had no idea where she disappeared off to. She had no idea what she was doing but she was doing it really, really well.

Near the end of your shift, after you had managed to conjure a semi-decent animation, Boris took a stop at your office.

"Hi, (Y/N)," the ink wolf said, capturing your attention with his always amiable tone.

Knowing it was no one who meant any harm, you relaxed and readjusted the position you were sitting in. You sat backward on the chair so you could face the cartoon as he spoke to you.

"Hey, Boris," sounding much more exhausted than you thought, you replied and looked up at him. "What can I do for you?"

Even when Bendy was tall, he was taller, but he never changed height like the ink demon did. He remained at a stagnant six foot six.

Boris looked back at you in concern at your tone. His eyes were so similar yet different from Bendy's. They were the same black cartoon shape but Boris' reflected calm caring, in contrast to Bendy's troublemaking gleam.

"I just wanted to see how you were," he told you and blinked. "I heard what happened this morning and I haven't talked to you one-to-one in a bit. Are you okay? I also heard that Bendy was being his usual self with you before lunch."

"I'm just tired and with Bendy, what else is new?" You yawned. "I'm really tired."

Sympathy glazed the wolf's optics. "I thought so. Bendy doesn't make things better, does he?"

You forced a wheezy chuckle. "Far from it. He tried to steal my car keys."

Boris nodded slowly. "He really does like targeting you," he observed, then, strangely enough, his tail began wagging. "I suppose it's because, well..." Cutting himself off, the cartoon looked thoughtful but amused at the same. "That doesn't matter too much. Actually, it does, but... Have a good night, (Y/N). It's closing time right about now, so get some rest once you get home."

He smiled at you kindly, then left, leaving you behind with your growing confusion for company. A lot had happened today and you had such little sleep. A good night's rest would most certainly do you good but, before you left, you had to check in with Joey. You weren't particularly looking forward to showing him your pitiful work after that morning's events. With some luck, he wouldn't judge you too harshly. Bendy could talk him into accepting your work, you mused. Heading down the hall once more, you made your way to the Ink Machine, where Drew was most likely positioned.

It turned out he wasn't there. He was in the room with the metal table that you saw Boris suspiciously examining the other day. Joey Drew was staring at the table too, an unreadable expression on his face. He looked up and saw you, then gave a weary smile.

"Hello, (Y/N). Ready to go home?"

"Yes, sir," you replied respectfully, gaze trained on the floor as you handed him your work.

You held your breath as he flipped rough the drawings and wondered if he would show the ultimate kindness and pay you even a meager dollar for your work this time.

After what seemed like hours, he finally spoke up. "Yes, thank you, (Y/N), have a good night."

If that wasn't a dismissal, then you were a mouse (reference anyone?).

You gave a breathy "You, too," then scampered out of the odd room.

You knew you weren't even supposed to be getting paid but still, being dismissed with not even a note of approval hurt. You definitely weren't looking forward to spending the rest of the week with Bendy in your house. All day. All the time. A wail bubbled in your throat and it took all of your power to force it back down. It just wasn't fair! It sounded childish, you knew, but it still wasn't fair. You curled your fingers into a fist and slowly made your way to the exit. Bendy was there. No one else was in sight.

"Let's go," you sighed thickly, not even batting an eye as Bendy melted back into a puddle.

The street was deserted. Pale moonlight turned the surface to silver, despite streaks of dark, blood orange still staining the sky from sunset. You unlocked your car wearily. Thank the stars you hadn't forgotten your keys again. Bendy reformed beside the door and opened it himself. You decided to not chastise him for reforming outside of the car in plain sight, not because there wasn't anyone around, but because you simply didn't have the energy. The car started with a humming purr and you pulled out of the space by the curb slowly. Even though the ride home would only take a few minutes, you felt ready and willing to fall asleep on your dashboard. The image of yourself snoring softly in your car in the middle of the road with Bendy was the only thing keeping you from actually carrying the deed through. Yawning, you stared at the end of the road hazily as you began driving.

Neither you nor Bendy said anything on the way home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pretty good, huh? Again, thanks for all the support! I'm gonna say this constantly so get used to it.
> 
> DEAL WITH IT. *puts on sunglasses*
> 
> All stupidity aside (what? No stupidity? HOW?!), I like this chappie, and I hope you do too. Tell me in the comments below and blow up the kudos like y'all have been doing, which, might I add, is AWESOME!
> 
> Plus, did ya get my references? I had like... threeeeeee?
> 
> And before I go, five more words:
> 
> Bendy with Bill Cipher's voice. 
> 
> *crawls back into the pit of hell that I came from*
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	4. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Business is business! And business runs in the family, we tend to bruise easily, bad in the blood. I'm telling you 'cause I just want you to know me, know me and my family. We're wonderful folks but don't get too close to me.
> 
> I cannot run from my family! They're hiding inside me, corpses on ice. Come in if you'd like but just don't tell my family, they'd never forgive me.
> 
> They say that I'm crazy but they would say anything if it would shut me up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it's TK, and welcome back today for a new chapter you get a bit of a back story, Bendy asks awkward questions about humans, college boys are complete douchebag, and so on.
> 
> I had to add a few more tags to the fic while writing this so be aware. 
> 
> Anyway, my dog is better now, thank fuck, and I gave her a super good bath and shaved her so the heat wouldn't be as bad for her. I think she's okay now but still...
> 
> I also started commenting back, so please ask me anything and I should reply! Maybe not immediately but I will (mostly)! 
> 
> Again, this chapter has some dubious content in it, so be warned. Trigger warning for child neglect and underage drug abuse and stupidity. 
> 
> Is that it?
> 
> Read on!

A chill descended upon the small town as night fell, casting a dark gloom. Street lamps flickered to life. They shone faintly and slightly faltering light down onto the hard, black street, illuminating the faces of those who came to life at dark. People drifted home from work to greet their family. One man, who had just stepped inside of his home, pushed his children away in a drained manner when they greeted him in a shower of affection, claiming that he was too tired to talk and then trudged away. The children were left behind, confused, waiting by the door for the love they would never receive. Their mother watched anxiously from the kitchen. When she was sure that their father had gone to sleep, she hurried them over to the back door with hushed excitement. The children's sadness fell away as they stepped into the night air to once again chase lightning bugs, and, with their happiness, came the mother's.

Sitting on the fence in front of the seemingly cozy home was a now well-fed bird, fat off of humans' discarded food. It snuggled between the chipped, white fence posts and began drifting off. The bird's blue feathers were illuminated eerily by the yellow streetlight over it. Then, out from the darkness surrounding the lone light of many, came a group of college boys. They snickered and giggled with the scent of alcohol on their rank breath. Hoods hid their faces from the light. One saw the bird, then stuck his face near it and hooted loudly. The bird twittered with surprise and fell off of the fence. In turn, the college boy laughed at the misfortune he caused. With another angry chitter, the bird took off, once more forced away from the place it decided to call home.

The college boy then rejoined his group who had stumbled ahead a few paces, his lope ungainly and twisted (I bet he stepped on a Lego). Alcohol clouded his decisiveness and judgment. He left behind reason in favor of the dull buzz that masked all of his worries. Who cared if he was failing school? Who cared if his friends weren't really friends? Who cared if he had no girlfriend? That was fine. That could all be fixed. School, well, it didn't matter. Everyone dies in the end, the parts before that didn't matter. He didn't care for friends so much as he cared for drinking buddies, and he certainly had those. As for a girlfriend...

His surroundings answered that question. The drunken boys had now approached their home, which, funnily enough, was right next to yours. The one boy we have been discussing noticed that your car was in the driveway and inside the house, a light glowed. Smiling loopily to himself, he walked alongside his "friends" into their shared home, joining in their off-tune warbling. They stumbled inside and giggled as they tripped over one another. Barely avoiding a fallen body (let the bodies hit the floor), the boy shut the door behind them all, trapping the group in suffocating blackness.

Meanwhile, in your home, you wished that a certain someone's body hit the floor as well. Bendy stood leaning against your dining room table, a respectable distance away from the ink spill he created. Awkwardness showed in his stiff arms and tapping fingers, but besides that, his face reflected calm indifference, per usual. Exhaustion rippled through you. You didn't have the energy to snap at him for standing there like he had taken root, then order him to clean his messes up, so you settled for a deep sigh.

"You go clean the mess you made in the kitchen. I'll get the spill here, then I'll eat and go to bed and you can just go away," your voice was hoarse and tight with suppressed emotion. "Please. Just go."

Bendy stood up straight, about to leave, until he stiffened again. "But... Don't humans need, y'know... Sleep?" He asked hesitantly as if he didn't know how to voice any emotion other than bitchiness. "I could clean up down here and you could, just..."

Before he could finish his wavering sentence, you summoned the last reserves of your energy and glared at him. He crumbled a bit underneath your stare.

"Yes, well, the thing is that I don't trust you," you replied, venom dripping off of every wheezing word. "I don't even feel comfortable sleeping knowing you're lurking in my home, so with that being said, I am going to stay down here while you clean. Now go."

Casting one last apprehensive grimace at you, Bendy scurried off to the kitchen, disappearing around the corner. The light flicked on, casting his tall shadow into the dining room. You turned away from the image and crouched down, then began gathering up shards of glass in your palm from the spill. A few drops of black ink stained your hand as you performed the monotonous job. You fixated your glazed eyes on the liquid and decided you were too worn out to care. In the background, you could hear your rowdy college boy neighbors start hollering outside and wondered if they were old enough to drink, knowing fully well that they were drunk. You really shouldn't have been judging them off of that, however. It would make you a hypocrite.

You recalled the first time you drank without any of the warm feelings of nostalgia. That vision brought with it the feelings of resentment, anger, and loneliness, like most of your memories. You were only a freshman in high school, desperately trying to fit in and finding yourself at a sleazy party for all of your efforts. There were mainly seniors there. One of the seniors had noticed you standing close to the walls of one room, away from everyone else and watching them act like whores and douches with wary eyes. He had held out a bottle of vodka to you and raised an eyebrow, expression topped off with a lazy grin. His eyes were glassed over, bloodshot, and you could have sworn that he was high, judging off of that and the stench rolling off of him in waves.

"Who invited you?" He had mocked, swinging the bottle in front of your face. "Take the stick outta your ass and do it, bitch. Never had any before, sheltered child? Are you scared?"

That had set you off. You then snatched the bottle from him, hissed in his face, and took a large gulp straight from the top. Then you pulled away quickly and gagged while your eyes had started streaming. The fag jeered and howled with laughter at you, ending only when you kneed him between the thighs and dropped the bottle on the floor next to him as he fell to the ground, shattering glass everywhere. You had spat in his face, then left to another room where a new bunch of seniors tried to convince you to take a puff of pot.

You had taken one. Or two.

You wrinkled your nose at the memory, especially at what had driven you to take such risks at all, and focused back on the task at hand. Still quite unfocused, however, you grappled for a large shard of glass and accidentally sliced your finger on the edge. A yelp escaped from you and you jerked your hand away, spilling a few pieces of the shattered bottles from your other hand. You raised your stinging appendage up to your face for examination and saw blood pouring from the cut. Besides that, it stung like fury. You bit your lip and dumped what you had managed to gather from your grasp and stood up, cradling your now bloodied hand gently. You couldn't do this in your state. You simply could not.

Mechanically, you walked into the kitchen, dark red liquid gushing from your wound and barely missing the floor with the gooey splatters. Bendy looked up as you stepped in. He was almost done with the pots and you hoped he didn't mind cleaning the ink spill up after all, then told yourself that you didn't care what he minded and resolved to order him to do it if he refused. The ink demon saw your injury with widened eyes and quickly looked away to finish up cleaning, also so you wouldn't notice the strange mix of disgust and maybe even a bit of concern. The devil hated humans, with their feelings and how delicate they are. He also hated thinking that he was more human than he thought.

He practically hated everything.

Watching out of the corner of his eye at you cleaning your hands, he continued putting pots and pans away. Last night he had taken them out while snooping around your house. He found many things, such as overdue bills, lost money, and a single old tattered picture of you as a child in your basement files. Half of the photo was torn away. He had stared at it curiously, then took it upstairs and hid it in the back of one of your dusty, unused cabinets for safe keeping. Maybe you still had the other half. The part he did have showed you with your eyes downcast, arms held stiff behind your back with a large body of water behind you. It was strange but he had more pressing matters to attend to, like rummaging through your fridge and laundry. The laundry turned out to be a disappointment. So did the fridge.

By now, you had finished cleaning your hand and were turned towards Bendy. He pretended to not notice you until you cleared your throat and spoke.

Your voice was a mere croak as if it hadn't been used in years. "I'm gonna go to sleep now. There's still the mess in the dining room and I stopped cleaning because I cut my hand on the glass. If you can, please clean it up when you're done with this." You waved a hand to the pots beside Bendy.

He narrowed his eyes but didn't argue. "Fine," the ink demon replied coldly, hunching his back once more and picking up a pan to put away.

A sting that had nothing to do with your hand struck you when you closed your eyes and walked away. An aching, frosty loneliness swept over you like a wave as you slowly padded upstairs. The steps creaked underneath you as you made your way to your bathroom to properly dress your cut. If you needed stitches, then you would have to make do with a heavy amount of gauze and tape. You simply didn't have the money for stitches between bills and trying to keep yourself alive. Speaking of keeping yourself alive, you remembered that you didn't eat dinner. Your stomach wasn't growling at the moment, so you decided that you could wait until tomorrow morning to dine.

Cool tile soothed your aching feet as you stepped into the bathroom, but it didn't soothe the empty feeling in your soul. You left the lights off while enjoying the sensation of the tiles. It was soon interrupted by a shriek from downstairs accompanied by the sound of glass shattering. Your brow furrowed as you hit the back of your head against the wall and cursed Bendy, wondering when he would learn that yes, humans did need sleep, but they also needed peace and quiet to sleep. Thinking about the way the cartoon character referred to humans made you reverse your gears of thought. Didn't he see how human he was, even if he was made of ink and not flesh? For a moment, you put yourself in his shoes to see his perspective of other living things (if he could even be considered as living).

If what he said was true, then he spent his entire life in a studio. You shuddered while imagining seeing the exact same thing every day for nearly your entire life. That was what made you take him in, however grudgingly you did. You knew it. But that was only scraping the surface of it all. He had no family whatsoever unless he considered Joey and the animator's other creations as a family. Your mind glossed over the way he acted when Joey touched him and how he acted with the other ink cartoons. Somehow, you doubted it. Bendy never showed the underlying affection underneath his glorious asshole antics. Neither did your family, once you thought about it.

It was only ever you and your parents your entire life and they were barely a part of it. Sometimes you wondered if they even wanted a kid. Other people had horror stories of how their family beat them, raped them, abused them beyond your worst imagination, but all you had was nothing. That was the thing. They never acknowledged your presence, not even in the slightest. Your father worked late when you were a child and so did your mother once she assumed you were old enough to take care of yourself. To her, the age old enough was six.

More dark chills swept over you, threatening to pull you under. You shook it off and pushed away the tearful memories. Besides, your finger was bleeding again. You turned on the light with your unwounded hand. In the mirror, a ghastly figure stared back at you, with bags under its eyes and blood mixed with ink smeared on its arm. It took a moment before you realized that the reflection was actually you, tattered and broken both on the inside and outside. A haunted look shone in your eyes. Along with the lovely red blotches on your skin, you could probably scare people off with just a single look. You huffed and washed your hands and face in the sink while ignoring the stinging pain in your finger, along with the blood dripping down the drain, made pink from the water. When you were sure you were clean enough, you turned to the small closet behind you and began rummaging through the bottles of medicine for some gauze. Your hand hovered over some large and scary looking pills. The sudden urge to inhale all of them in one gulp fell over you like a blanket but you tried to roll it off of your shoulders.

With whatever else that was going on in his life (once again, if you could even call it that), it would not affect Bendy positively to see you dead due to overdose on your bathroom floor. Then, once the impulse to die passed, you wondered why you would even consider how it would hurt the ink demon. He would probably dance over your dead body. For a moment, you imagined the roles switched, with you finding the cartoon character on your floor, dead. You snorted and dismissed the thought once you found the bandages. You wrapped up your finger in the gauze, being careful to not put too little or too much pressure. Neither bleeding to death nor cutting off your circulation would have a good outcome.

Behind you, the lights switched off as you left the bathroom. Even though your room was a few feet away, you didn't think you could make it. You managed to slump into your room and flop onto the bed face first. Looks like it was another night of sleeping without pajamas. That wouldn't give the comfortable rest you needed at all, however, so you settled for stripping off your pants and shirt and sleeping in your underwear. Not great, but it would do. You slipped under the covers and relished the warmth and smooth sheets. Despite being exhausted, sleep didn't come to you immediately. Instead, you stared blankly at your ceiling, listening to the muffled footsteps of Bendy below you and glossing over the day's main events.

Well, you almost got fired for being late to work, Bendy actually looked like a child cowering from away from Joey, Susie Campbell wanted to be your friend for some reason all of the sudden, Bendy forced you to practically lay on him to get your keys, Boris' cryptic words about Bendy made no sense, and you came home to a horribly messy home. Sounds about right. You huffed, snuggled deeper into your covers, and let your mind wander. It rested upon your suicide flipped with Bendy's and the quite good question you asked yourself. How would you feel about finding him dead on your floor?

You stared ahead and realized that you had no idea how you would feel.

* * *

Morning came upon a (gentle dove's wing... I am so sorry) glowing ray of sunshine and the chirp of birds. The sun had only just risen over the horizon, burning away a few misty clouds from overnight and turning the soft pink sky to baby blue. Your eyes fluttered open briefly before shutting against the light. Despite it being dull, the light still hurt your sleep-encrusted optics. You should have got a better bed, better for your head (better heads need shut-eye).

Preparing yourself to rise for about five minutes, you finally opened your eyes fully and stared up at the ceiling with wide optics. You awoke in a skittish mood, for whatever reason, and sweat dripped down your back, sticking your bare skin to the sheets. Gross. You then tried recalling your subconscious nighttime adventures but only came up with a vague image of a blade stained with black and a distant pained cry.

You shivered, clambered out of the sheets, and almost stumbled. The rush of cool air felt nice on your hot, sticky skin. You quickly stripped out of your underwear and exchanged them for a fresh pair, then pawed around your dresser for a new outfit, suitable for the day. You only planned on going to work, which was basically the only thing you ever did, but you had an actual paying job today. You worked at a clothing store in a strip mall, further out into town. It wasn't exactly the coolest place to be but it also wasn't like the job was terrible. The pay was decent enough to put dinner on the table and that was enough for you.

Today for your clothing you picked out a skirt (yuck) and a simple blouse, color of your choice. The skirt you could do without but this job required something nice and professional... ish. Uncomfortable but not revolting was your understanding of the dress code. The new breeze around your, well, you know, was less than favorable when it came to a different type of bottoms. Nearly set for the day, you hurried off to the bathroom to take care of your hair and teeth and to get rid of the unpleasant goop in your eyes.

You finished freshening up and made your way to the stairs. You hesitated at the top step, wondering what would greet you when you walked down. Bendy certainly hadn't been forgotten this morning and, with luck, he wouldn't have forgotten that this was someone else's home that he had intruded upon. A second passed as you braced yourself behind a steely, mental wall before you took your first few steps down. Creaks sounded beneath you while the stairs held your weight. One day you swore that they would snap underneath you with all the noise they made.

The tension in your shoulders did not unravel once you stopped at the foot of the stairs. In fact, it tightened, making you peer down the hall warily. It seemed like the annoying ink blot didn't make a mess but there was still plenty of other spaces that could have held disaster within them. You tiptoed to your right which was towards the front door soundlessly, looking around for any signs of a mess. The ink spill in your dining room had been cleaned up. A small sense of relief made you relax a bit when you realized that Bendy actually did listen sometimes, the proof being right in front of you.

Getting rid of the rest of the stress you held, you turned and walked into the room opposite of your dining room: the sun room. You opened the blinds to let in some light and to look outside. Your elderly neighbors to the left of your house were awake but on the other hand, to your right, it seemed like the college boys were once more dead along with the night. No cars passed by on their way to work. You woke up early today, even though your shift for this job didn't start until ten. You wished you woke up this early yesterday.

"Heya!" A voice behind you made you jump and whirl around, coming face to face with a beaming Bendy. "Whaddya doin' up this early?"

Getting over your initial shock, you took in a deep, calming breath, and gave a steady reply. "Getting ready early so I don't have another fiasco like yesterday. Plus, I actually get paid for this job, so being late to it wouldn't exactly be smart."

"Since when're you smart?" He asked sarcastically, smile faltering when you hissed and walked off to the kitchen.

You heard footsteps hurry behind you, telling you that the ink demon followed you into the kitchen. You turned your head to glare at him out of the corner of your eye and snapped, "Can you go somewhere else? Stop breathing down my neck and let me get some food."

"I don't even breathe," came a sneer behind you but he listened to you and left, nonetheless.

A lawnmower sounded in the distance while you made your favorite breakfast. Kids squealed in the streets as they woke up for school. You remembered your own school days as a small child. Your parents were never around, of course, since they left early in the morning before dawn for work, so you always had to fend for yourself when getting ready. Every day was a hassle. With a mix between a smile and grimace on your face, you recalled trying to make eggs when you were only eight years old and nearly burning down the entire house. It was a real job trying to clean everything. Eggs splattered over the entire counter and the wall...

You shook your head to clear your mind and took your breakfast of choice to the dining room table once you were done. Bendy had decided that going away meant sitting down at the table with his horned head down like a scolded child, so you took the seat across from him while gazing down at him with narrowed eyes. Feeling your optics burning holes through his head, the cartoon character looked up, then suppressed another stupid smile. Black eyes glittered strangely as they watched take the first bite of your food.

It felt strange being ogled at like you were an animal at the zoo while eating. Both of you continued staring each other down as you started chewing.

"What's it like?" Bendy suddenly burst out, stretching his arms out over the table while his chin still rested on the surface. "Eating, I mean."

You reeled back and swallowed, nearly choking. How could you explain something like that?

"Um..." You began, swiping your tongue over your teeth in thought.

"Yes, please enlighten me," Bendy sneered and curled his lip.

"You just, uh, put stuff in your face and y'know..."

This had already started off on the wrong foot.

The ink devil clearly enjoyed your discomfort. "What do I know?"

"Obviously not much, if you don't even know what eating is!" You snapped, temper flaring. "You should know this and understand, even if you don't eat!"

"Not really. What's the point of eating?" Honest questioning rang in Bendy's voice and reflected in his optics. He did know what eating was to an extent. Keywords: to an extent. This was a good enough chance for him to ask as any.

"People need to eat to keep themselves going," you explained softly once you realized he was serious. "We take the nutrients and energy from the food and use it. That's what calories are. It's a unit of energy. We're not made of ink, we're living things, so we need something to sustain us."

"I'm a living thing..." Bendy muttered and put his face on the table again.

You were treading dangerous waters now. "Yeah, I-I guess, but... But you aren't really..."

"Living? So I've heard. Well, I wouldn't wanna be human anyway," he said, regaining some of his spite even though he was face down on the table. "People are gross flesh-bags. They do weird stuff, like eat. And reproduce like parasites." At this, he instantly perked up, curious gleam back in his eyes. "What's having a family like, then, if ya can't explain eating?"

"Don't you basically have one?" You ventured, taking another bite of your breakfast while looking down at your lap. This brought up many of your thoughts from last night. "Joey created you with Boris and Alice, right?"

A snort was your only answer.

You thought of your own past and replied with a sigh. "Well, I didn't really have a family either, then." Your tone was terse and finalizing, restricting yourself from any prying.

On a whim, you glanced at Bendy after your remark. His shoulders were tensed and despite not being able to see his face, you could tell that there were questions swirling around his head. Thankfully, the devil had enough sense to keep them quiet. The two of you sat in silence as you finished your meal and Bendy didn't look up when you rose from your chair and left, taking your mess with you.

It took nearly a lifetime for your time to leave to roll around. In the moments in between, you kept to yourself, sitting in front of the TV and flipping through the channels. Meanwhile, Bendy paced around the house, only stopping once you flicked onto a channel showing his cartoon on it. It was more than weird seeing the exact same cheeky devil depicted on your screen like the one in your house. For a moment it seemed as if Bendy was going to stop and watch it. He had tipped his head at the TV with mild interest on his face. You hastily changed the channel and told him that he didn't need his ego inflated more than it already was. He merely flashed bright fangs at you and disappeared to who knows where. Truth was, you really did want to watch it. What you said was, true, however, about Bendy not needing an even bigger ego.

Once it was time to leave, you turned off the television and made your way over to the door. You put on a pair of flats and ignored the presence of the ink demon in your sun room.

"Where's my wallet?" You asked without looking at him.

"On the end of the table, by your keys," he replied simply.

You walked over and grabbed both. "How about my bag?"

"It was stained, so I put it downstairs in your washer." The cartoon seemed strangely mellow at the moment. Where was the snide comment? The insult?

"Thanks," you replied grudgingly and opened the door. Only then did you finally look at Bendy. He sat criss-cross on the sofa, eyes narrowed against the sunlight pouring into the room. "Uh, don't do anything stupid when I'm gone," you told him, voice wavering.

He merely met your gaze and held it. Back of your neck prickling, you stepped out the door, aware of Bendy's stare following you. Even when the door was closed you felt strange. You crossed the grass to your car and unlocked it to slip into the driver's seat. Something felt empty inside of you when you started the car, which came to life with a roar. A college boy watched you get into your car from out the window, same as Bendy.

Before backing out of the driveway, you rested your forehead against the steering wheel and shivered violently. How could a few simple questions on Bendy's part make you so uncomfortable? Why were thinking about your past so often now, and speaking of pasts, what was hiding in Bendy's?

How could just one night open up so many buried memories of drugs, loss, and neglect?

The questions followed you all the way to your job, along with the prickle of Bendy's level gaze on you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, back story... I just didn't want Reader-chan to be a 2-D human with no past at all and this will come into play later on, mainly for understanding and crap like that. You understand Bendy's pain!
> 
> And that one college dude who's super creepy...
> 
> ANYWAY, I am deviating a bit from the simple plot of BatIM and I hope that's okay. But I promise, the shit going down in BatIM is the main plot and conflict here. This is just for building a romantic playing field and making a non-flat character, haha.
> 
> Questions, questions. What is your family doing now? What was that strange dream you conveniently forgot? What the hell is going on with Bendy? Who knows! Stay tuned and give some support for next chapter down below with a kudos and a comment. 
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	5. Panic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> At the disco. 
> 
> You meet Boobs McKenzie, get stalked, and have anxiety attacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back with another chapter, yay!
> 
> I'll admit, this chapter isn't too fascinating, but there's some development. Bendy is weird, college boys are disgusting, and bOOBS.
> 
> That's all I have to say. 
> 
> Read on and enjoy!

Cherry blossoms were swept away on a light Spring breeze, pink and white against the light blue sky. Fluffy clouds reminiscent of cotton candy built on the distant horizon, promising storms by tomorrow. School buses full of children prowled the neighborhood streets as they picked up a few stragglers and headed to school to drop the kids off. The morning rush had mostly passed but some cars still held up traffic and a few people sped off to work, late. A bird picked through the overturned garbage can behind one school, fighting with the other meaner and bigger flocks for food. It gave a few angry chirps when a larger bird ripped away the scrap it had managed to salvage, only silenced when the larger bird gave a menacing hoot. The small bird hopped away from the other flocks to pick at the tiniest of crumbs. It had only greedily gulped down a few before a couple of children ran past to get into school, startling the bird. It then fled to the top of a flag pole in front of the school and disappeared behind a plume of light pink blossoms.

You drove past the school on your way to work, slowing down and watching for any stray students before speeding up once the school passed behind you. It was strange to think that you were a student in school not even a year ago. It felt like a lifetime. Still, you were relieved that that chapter of your life had been written, but ahead of you was a blank page hidden in shadow. If you didn't know where your life would lead now, then no one would. Spring was a time for rebirth, change, and life. Somehow you didn't think that your future held any of those things.

You shut your eyes for as long as possible while driving to relish the warmth of the sun pouring through the window, then quickly snapped your optics back open to once again scan your surroundings. Another car rolled slowly past you in the opposite lane but besides that, it didn't seem like you had hit any pedestrians. The road leading away from the school and your neighborhood and took long, winding twists and turns through fields and woodland alike. Your work wasn't far away but there was a respectable distance between the shopping center and your home. Unlike the studio, you definitely wouldn't be able to walk to it unless you had a death wish.

Well, you did, but you would prefer a much quicker end than dehydration, overexertion, or heatstroke.

Or a car crash.

You snorted and pushed down harder on the gas. The quicker you got to work, the better. It would keep your mind off things and you couldn't afford to be late. If you were late, then you wouldn't be able to afford anything. You briefly wondered how you were going to crawl out of the pit of debt you fell into and decided it wasn't worth the stress to think about it. Until you were living off of stale bread crumbs and sleeping in a box, you wouldn't commit any more brain cells to the thought. Those things were precious, especially since you reckoned you only had a few left.

The woods and moors faded away to an intersection, usually busy but you had avoided the morning rush. Stores dotted the landscape and with one right turn, you would be in front of the strip mall that you worked at. You checked both ways before proceeding like a good driver, even though there was obviously no one around, and moved along. A line of well-gardened trees greeted you as you made another turn to enter the parking lot. Few cars were parked already and no one roamed the sidewalk in front of the stores, aside from a group of teenagers skiving off of school. They trotted in a cluster, heads raised, daring anyone to approach them. You offhandedly wished that you were like that while in school and stepped out of your car after pulling up in an empty space towards the back of the parking lot.

Your keys jangled ominously in your hand as you approached the clothing store where you worked. The empty parking lot seemed sinister despite you knowing that no one would chance anything in broad daylight under such conditions. Still, you couldn't help but feel lonely and exposed in the desolate lot. It was a relief when you made it to the sidewalk. Feeling emptier than ever while you stepped into the store, you pondered on what Bendy was doing at your house. He was probably sticking nails in your blender or flooding your basement. The ghost of a smile flitted across your face before logic kicked in. Those most certainly are not good past times and are no laughing matter. It would just create more work for you like last night's episode.

Now thoroughly discouraged and depressed, you took in a deep breath and looked over at who was at the cash register in the front of the store. Your eyes narrowed once you saw who it was. Typical white, blonde, big bosomed teenager who was currently chewing an enormous wad of gum. You wrinkled your nose but didn't say anything and snuck past the registers to hurry to the back of the store. You would take working around Alice Angel, Boris, and Bendy all at once rather than that annoying teen. Technically, you were still an annoying teen too, though. A better choice of word here would be schoolgirl.

The schoolgirl didn't notice you as you crept past and continued studying her white-painted nails while slowly chomping on her gum. She was clearly bored and wanted a new plaything. Luckily, you fit the job description perfectly. Clothes as far as the eye could see blocked your way to the back room but you knew the path as well as the back of your hand. You slunk around displays, racks, and shoe boxes until a blank wall stared at you. Quickly locating the door, you slipped inside the office and slumped against the wall, relieved to be in a space where you didn't feel as if you were being watched. Bendy's level, cold stare from this morning swam into the focus of your mind for a split second and you brushed it away with a shiver.

You darted into an office off to the side where your name tag and instructions for the day were. It seemed like no one else had this shift with you besides the big-tittied, spoiled, basic white girl at the register who was waiting for you. Great. Swallowing down your resentment, you pinned the name tag to the front of your blouse and picked up a packet of instructions for the day off of the desk in the middle of the office. There was nothing special written under your shift, so you assumed that you simply worked the register per usual and cleaned the store up when no one was there. Easy enough. The hard part would be dealing with your co-worker.

Keeping the end of your shift and the paycheck you would get for working in mind, you built up a small tower of confidence inside of you and strode out of the backroom with your head held high. There was no reason to dread this, it was only some kid with a nasty two-faced attitude. You dealt with plenty of those in high school. You decided to brush off the knowledge that none of the said confrontations in high school ended up with you on top. Clothing racks melted together senselessly before your eyes. They were meaningless, not of importance, insignificant in light of the challenges that faced you.

Blood roared in your ears as you approached the registers. The blonde teenager didn't look up until you were right in front of her. Before walking past her to stand at your own register, you saw her give a wicked smile worthy of the Cheshire Cat (and Bendy). You inwardly groaned and braced yourself for what would be the longest shift of your life. A few people walked into the store, distracting you. They were middle aged ladies. This store was practically a magnet for middle aged ladies. You wouldn't be surprised if there was a sign over the entire store, pointing to it with flashy, bright colors, that said "Hey! If you have boobs and are over thirty, then SHOP HERE!"

The pack of moms sniffed around a while for some prey they could sink their teeth into but evidently found nothing when they left the store a few minutes later, distaste evident on every inch of their faces. You almost wished they had stayed. It would continue to distract you from your blonde coworker, who was now eyeing you beadily through heavily mascaraed lashes. Her gaze burned holes into your back and despite the uncomfortable feeling, you continued to face away from her. If she so desperately wanted to pick on you then she would have to speak up about it. Hopefully, she would keep her big, fat mouth quiet, but you knew that girls like these had no shame and picked up speed as they went on.

The longer the bitch held her tongue, the sharper it would be later when she decides to use it. You could only imagine the passive-aggressive remarks, their scathing meaning hidden behind a thick sugar coat of honeyed words. Again, high school, anyone?

More people began drifting in, a few seemed so lost and clueless that you assumed that they walked in on accident. That was most people in your town, however, so you really should have been used to it by now. Everyone was either an idiot or was dangerously intelligent, using their powers for evil, not good. You briefly examined this topic and wondered what category people you knew would fit into. This quickly became boring and served no entertainment purposes, so you dropped the subject. It was like grabbing at sticks in the dark, searching for subjects to pass the time. It didn't help that Ms. Boobs-a-lot continued to shoot you withering glances out of the corner of her eyes. Sooner or later, she would pounce on her prey, which amazingly enough would be you.

That moment came sooner than expected.

"So, (Y/N)," she drawled, forcing you to turn towards her and give a pained smile.

"Yes?" You answered, your face feeling like a mask stretched thin.

"So," she repeated and took another hair-pulling pause, "So, like, um, what's up?"

You continued giving a strained beam, "Just working, as you can see." _Idiot_ , you added internally. "Is that all?'

She gave you a look like you were the stupid one. "No, like, what's up with life? Is anything _up_?" The blonde popped her lips at the last word. Bright pink lip gloss and shining teeth flashed at you.

"Um, no," you muttered, dropping your happy mask for one that said screw off, complete with twisted lip and eyebrow raise.

The girl clearly ignored your hint and fluttered her lashes while speaking up again, "Like, seriously? You're old enough to go to college, right? So, like, why don't you, (Y/N)?" That was a laced question if you have ever heard one.

"I don't go to college and I'm not going to," depression echoed behind your flat voice. "I'm just working. Anyway, aren't you supposed to be in high school still? Isn't it Monday?"

"Yeah, but, like..."

You swore if she said "like" one more time you were going to throw the cash register at her.

"...I dropped out, because, like, my boyfriend sorta got me pregnant..."

How does one sorta get pregnant?

"...so I like, I dropped out and didn't go back. My boyfriend said he's gonna go to college to like, support us all or whatever."

A million scathing comments exploded in your head at once but you managed to bite your tongue and force another supporting smile on your face. "That's... nice of him."

"I know, right?!" Your blonde coworker gushed enthusiastically.

"He's, like, the greatest!" She trailed off with a dreamy look on her face which hopefully meant that your nightmare was coming to an end.

You thought too soon.

The blonde bimbo perked up once again and another devilish grin spread across her face. "So..." she started, doing her routine eyelash flutter and flirtatious lean forward. She bit her lip as if she was deciding whether or not to say what she was thinking but if you knew anything about this ex-schoolgirl, then you knew she would eventually.

You reached under the register to grab a bottle of water off the shelf and took a sip. No point in doing nothing while you waited for your coworker to spit whatever it was that she was thinking out.

"So, (Y/N)," she repeated her previous statement once more and tilted her head.

You decided that you would actually throw something at her if she said "so" one more time and began studying the roots of her blonde hair while drinking. They were brown. It came as no surprise that the dumb kid dyed her hair platinum blonde.

"Do you, like, have a boyfriend, too?"

You choked on your water and spat out whatever didn't end up down your wind pipe out onto the floor. "Excuse me?" You croaked, hunched over and coughing. Your eyes streamed and it made you hard to make out your co-worker's expression but you thought you saw contempt on her face.

"I said, do you have a boyfriend?" She asked again with an annoyed roll of her eyes. "God, (Y/N), you're so lame and clueless all the time."

"Speak for yourself," you gave a hoarse growl underneath your breath. Luckily, Ms. Boobs-a-lot didn't hear your snide remark and resumed studying her nails. Clearing your throat, you stood up straight and answered clearly, "No."

"Are you serious?" Coldly glittering optics scrutinized your form and you wrung your wrists nervously. "You don't even like anyone?"

A tingling sensation not much unlike the one you got this morning under Bendy's gaze swept over you. "No..." you replied, quieter and less sure this time.

The girl snorted and turned away from you. "You're no fun," she stated snootily, her fake blonde hair a shimmering curtain in the sunlight. "Seriously, (Y/N), what do you even do with yourself?"

Instead of an answer, you shot a nasty, covert glare at her and turned back to your workspace as well. Stupid drop out. Who said she was God's give to Earth? Who gave her the right to practically treat you for a piece of crap for being, well, you? You brooded at your station for a good thirty minutes until customers started coming in again. The tinkling of a bell and the swish of a door alerted you to their presence. You looked up, wondering who came in and were greeted by a nasty shock.

It was those damn college boys who lived by you.

Life apparently wanted to make this day terrible for you and it was succeeding immensely.

You wanted to hide behind the abundance of clothing racks behind you but you knew that it wouldn't be "professional" to cower at the sight of potential customers. Pushing away your doubts, you put on a brave face and stood confidently at the register. The boys didn't notice you as they passed the entrance to delve deeper into the thicket of shoes and clothes. They disappeared and left you with your own thoughts, one, in particular, standing out: why had they come here, of all places? There must be another sign above the store saying, "Hey! Along with the old-but-not-too-old ladies, why don't you creepy college kids who live by (Y/N) come and SHOP HERE?!"

Your blonde co-worker watched the group as they passed with mild interest and you recognized the change in her stature. All traces of bitchiness gone, she stood taller, readjusted her shirt, and faked a bored look with pouted lips and half-lidded eyes. You saw her continually gazing off into the direction that the horde of boys shuffled off to and stifled a snort. So much for having a loving and supporting boyfriend.

You never understood why guys always go after the bitches and girls go after douchebags (Oh, trust me, you'll understand going after douchebags eventually). That is if they were straight. You had a few gay friends in high school. You remembered one pair vividly, two girls who weren't half bad and actually liked you as a person who then started dating and left you behind in the dust. Perhaps one convinced the other to ditch you with them because she saw you as a threat to her relationship. Idiots. You were straight.

Loneliness once again leeched all of the energy out of your body as you reminisced about your past. You just had to keep bringing it up, didn't you? It was eating away at you slowly, like a parasite that preyed on hopelessness and despair, both of which you had in abundance. You didn't think anything would fix the aching, empty pit inside of you.

Not even a stupid cartoon devil.

The college boys returned at that very moment, a single box of shoes between all of them. A nervous looking boy held them, whose Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed heavily. Much to you and your co-worker's dismay, they chose your lane to check out.

"Hi, how can help you?" You said with false cheeriness and hoped that the group didn't recognize you.

The nervous one dropped the box beside you and answered, "Um, hi, (Y/N), just gotta get some shoes..."

So they did know you after all. Great. "Hi," you sighed dryly, losing your work appropriate aura. "I'll just scan it and..."

You searched the shoe box for the barcode. In the background, the other college boys whispered to each other angrily, creating a buzz similar to that of a cloud of bees. They kept shooting looks that ranged from encouraging to angry at their friend. You ignored this, found the barcode, scanned it, threw it in a bag, and shoved it towards your customer.

"Here," you said through gritted teeth. Between the muttering of the rest of the college boys and the angry looks your co-worker shot at everyone, you wanted them out of the store as soon as possible. It would cause worthless trouble. The boy took it, eyes flickering, and hurried away. The rest of his group scampered after him like a pack of wolves chasing their kill. They bristled angrily and cornered the single awkward boy by the door, not walking out. Curiosity burned under your skin. You knew it would be rude and nosy, but...

"I'm gonna go fix the displays," you said warily to your teenage co-worker.

"Mhmm..." She replied, not really paying attention and still angry that the boys gave her no attention.

Part of you felt bad that she vied for attention to the point of practically selling herself. Briefly, you wondered if it was because she had a similar circumstance to yours in her childhood. It would make sense despite the differences in how the two of you ended up. You brushed off the thought, not wanting to delve deep into the snake's past and compare it to your own. You snuck up on the college boys after making a wide berth around them, then hid behind a rack and leaned in close.

"Retard!" One of the boys hissed at his cornered friend. "We fucking came here for you to make a move and you wasted our time and blew it! I drove here with a goddamn hangover and for what? Nothing!"

"We found out where (Y/N) worked so you could have a perfect chance in neutral ground and ask her out, but no, you had to be an idiot and drag us all out here for nothing! Fucking learn what 'wingman' is, dumbass!" Another hissed at him and started a storm of furious snapping.

Blood running cold, you backed away from the crowd until solid wall thumped against your back. You slid down the surface, fighting off a headache, and raised a hand to your forehead. They found where you worked? How? Anxiety lurked behind your deep breaths that gradually grew hoarser as your throat constricted. You wheezed, struggling for breath, and put your head down between your knees. Panic exploded behind your closed eyelids. They found you. How did they find you? Were they following you just so a friend of theirs could gain a sick confidence boost from asking you out? Swallowing was a struggle. You tried taking calming breaths and found that even breathing hurt, so you desperately grappled for something to soothe your shock.

You had a home. You were doing okay. You had a steady job. You were getting a fine amount of money to sustain yourself. You escaped your family. You were most certainly not falling apart at the seams with stress, magnified by the stupid ink demon who plopped down into your dining room a few days ago. Everything was going to be okay.

The tight grip anxiety had on your throat eased and you took in a shuddering gasp. In a few minutes, you would get up and be completely calm. You cleared your mind for the time being and pretended like you didn't have knowledge of any college boys trying to hook up with you. After those few minutes, you got up like you planned and blinked away the stars that appeared over your gaze. You arched your spine in a long and luxurious stretch, then made your way back to the registers, relieved that no one saw your panic attack. The college boys were gone, too, which took an immense weight off of your shoulders.

The rest of the shift wasn't half bad, compared to how it was earlier. You only had to deal with a handful of dissatisfied customers and fend off questions from the blonde ex-schoolgirl. Most of them were stupid questions that interrogated you about your social life, education, and family. Again, stupid questions. You had none of those. It was fine until a call from the person taking the shift after you came in.

"Hey, um, (Y/N)? Or whoever's taking the shift right now?" The phone answered when you picked it up. "Could you please cover the next shift for me? It's only a few hours (it lasts until nine) and I seriously can't make it. Please, cover for me?"

You sighed into the phone, rolling your eyes and replying, "Fine. Just this once."

"Thanks!" They replied and promptly hung up.

Great. The nightmare is endless. You watched your co-worker leave when the afternoon came around with a flip of her dyed blonde hair and a sarcastic wave, an enormous smile plastered on her face. _Good riddance,_ you snorted and continued to work. Not many people approached after dark but there was always the occasional sketchy figure who came and went. A few of them made you quite uneasy, reminding you why you didn't take any of the night shifts. People creeped you out, a prime example being your college boy stalker neighbors. Thankfully, no one had sexually assaulted you by the end of your shift and the next person came in on time to close the store. You put your name tag away, gave the next person a halfhearted encouraging smile, and hurried out the door into the cool night air.

You almost cried in relief. The faint wind blew the scent of flowers and smoke towards you and the full moon sent down a silver glow, eerily illuminating the landscape. Frosty stars glittered faintly in the night sky, pale in comparison with the moon. You were grateful for the small source of light as you scurried across the parking lot unchallenged. The roar of your car starting seemed inappropriate for the once again empty lot and you rolled out of the vicinity while glancing around cautiously. No other cars were out, much like this morning. You were glad. Dealing with other people was exhausting.

You went a bit over the speed limit while driving home, not being reckless or anything of the sort; you just wanted to eat and go to sleep. Hopefully, Bendy didn't destroy anything, giving you a night free of worry. If his mood hadn't shifted from when you left the house then you told yourself that you had nothing to worry about.

The trees looked dark and ominous as you drove by them, headlights low. The occasional moor on the drive was washed in the pale moonlight, a pool of glowing silver. Owls swept overhead and birds settled down to nest. Animals of the night crept out of their dark hiding places, ranging from foxes to wolves to feral cats, filling the forest with shadows and growls. Crickets came to life as a symphony of chirps, along with fireflies, like blazing stars that fell to earth. It was peaceful until a car on the other side of the street roared past and blinded you.

"Turn off your damn high beams!" You hollered after the driver, though they were long gone. Probably drunk.

The rest of your ride was spent in discontent and you ignored the beauty of the world in favor of your own anger. Eventually, harsh and unnatural light replaced that of the moon and you approached your destination. The school looked ominous and foreboding in the night, conjuring images of your own school days. You met a few people at the intersection near your house but you left each other alone for the most part. Fingers tapping impatiently on the steering wheel, you stamped on the gas and turned aggressively when the stoplight turned green. You were completely done with the entire day and didn't want to face your neighbors afterward.

A few moments later, you pulled up to your home. The lights weren't on. Before getting out, you made sure no one was around, especially your college neighbors, and stopped the car hesitantly. Night air greeted you once again with a gentle caress of your face and you relished the feeling. You quietly shut your car door and hurried to your home, porch steps rattling underneath each wavering step.

You fumbled with your keys and nearly dropped them when you found the right one. Why were you so nervous? Pondering this, you stuck the key in the door and opened it. Darkness yawned before you. No noise sounded from within its endless depths, which set off alarm bells inside your head. If Bendy was planning on scaring you, then you would beat the hell out of him and then walk off to bed without anything to eat again. It sounded like just the kind of thing he would do, so you mentally prepared yourself, then stepped inside your seemingly deserted house.

Screwing your eyes shut, you waited for your inevitable fate and received...

Nothing.

You opened your eyes and turned on the light, seeing nothing, which made your suspicion grow. A slam rang through the house as you shut the door behind you. Still, nothing.

"Bendy?" You called out, worry replacing your suspicion in spite of yourself. "Bendy?"

A jolt went through your stomach and you began combing the house for the cartoon.

"Bendy?" You called in the basement.

"Bendy?" You called upstairs.

"Bendy?!" You called loudly at the heart of the house downstairs in the kitchen.

Panic much like earlier that day flared inside you and you began coming up with worst case scenarios in your head. He could have decided to go off on his own, he could have been seen, someone could have broken in and found him, he could be doing this on purpose, he, he, he....

Your hands shook and you breathed. There was no way that you would let this end up as a repeat when you found out you were being stalked. Bendy was smart, if he left then he could easily keep out of sight and come back. If he didn't, then that was something else entirely. Joey would be furious. The thought made all of the color drain from your face and your insides squirm. You realized that you couldn't just ignore the issue. Joey would find out but that wasn't the only reason you felt pressured to find Bendy, a reason you refused to acknowledge.

It would leave you utterly alone again.

You checked the entire house one more time and of course, found nothing. Now anxiety really started taking control of you. He wasn't in the house, that was for sure, you didn't even know if he was near the house. As a last resort, you walked back into your kitchen and faced the back door. If the ink demon wasn't here, then he could be anywhere. Your stomach fell to the basement when you considered what that meant.

Joey would fire you and you would be alone.

Shutting your eyes, you put a hand on the doorknob. You were filled with determination.

It opened with a swish and revealed your moon-washed backyard.

A voice called out to you.

"Hey. I've never seen stars before."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, yeah, not too fascinating, but this is slow-burn, baby! This is how the cookie crumbles!
> 
> While we wait for the moment we get to fuck Bendy, let's all make our ship names with him. Mine would be TKendy, going off of ONE of my pseudonyms :D The other pseudonym I'm comfortable with sharing with be Ashendy or Bendash. Hmm... What sounds better? 
> 
> Tell me your Bendy ship name in the comments below. Also, tell me how the chapter was in the comments below! Constructive criticism? Compliments? Hit me with it. 
> 
> Also, I'm still replying to comments, so that's a thing.
> 
> Leave a kudos, comment stupid ship names or feedback, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	6. Infinitesimal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a million, billion, trillion stars but I’m down here low, fussin’ over scars on my soul. 
> 
> On my soul! On my soul, on my soul.
> 
> On my soul, I am so infinitesimal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back today with Chapter 6, yay!
> 
> So, more notes, more notes...
> 
> This chapter is literally just fucking dialogue. Yeah. It's annoying, I don't like doing all dialogue crap, but I had to make some interaction between you and Bendy, right? You don't just instantly fall in love.
> 
> But this chapter is the base for that gLORIOUS LOVE.
> 
> Haha, I'm joking, but it sorta is. You realize that the stars are disappointing and you don't like being lonely so that's good. 
> 
> ALSO DID YOU KNOW THE CHAPTER 3 TRAILER COMES OUT FRIDAY AND I THINK I MIGHT EXPLODE BECAUSE OF EXCITEMENT?!
> 
> Read on and enjoy! And HYPE!

Cold moonlight bathed the landscape in liquid silver, the grass and trees like statues of frosted stone and the unnatural shapes of buildings casting even more unnatural shadows onto the ground. Nocturnal predators lurked in alleyways and in deep forests, eyes flashing warily in the uniform gloom. A fox stalked between neighborhood homes in search of garden birds for a quick meal. Its russet tail flicked irritably as it swung its narrow head. The fox's nostrils flared. It had picked up a scent. The creature of the night tracked it, avoiding children capturing fireflies in their backyard and a man yelling at his wife to sniff out its prey. Shadows were the fox's only ally in the hunt. It ducked between varying areas of darkness, intent on a faint scent, hunger driving it. The scent grew stronger. The fox's ears pricked. It now picked up the pace from a trot to a run, mouth watering. It came upon a rickety fence and skidded to a halt before it crashed into it. The animal bared its fangs and sniffed along the side of the fence, finding a gap quickly and shimmying through it. The scent became overwhelmingly strong now.

 

 

There, on the other side of the yard, sat a bird. It pecked around the grass for a late snack before going to bed and hooted in frustration. The fox stifled the urge to bound over to the bird and leap for it. Instead, the ginger fox pressed its belly against the ground and started creeping up on its next meal, paw step by paw step. Black eyes glittered greedily in the moonlight. It slunk up to the bird, ready to pounce...

But the bird heard the faintest swish of the fox's pelt as it brushed up against a bush. It twittered in alarm and tried to take flight. The fox pricked its ears in alarm and abandoned its stealthy approach in favor of a mad dash, paws outstretched as it reached for the bird. The animal whined as it plummeted back down to the ground with nothing but a feather, and to make it worse the starving animal landed in a thick hedge separating the two houses from each other. Thrashing in the foliage, the fox blindly reached for an exit. It scrabbled at the bushes and eventually tumbled out to the next yard, taking in the fresh air and its new surroundings.

This yard was much smaller than the neighboring one, despite it being empty. Well, mostly empty. A figure was sprawled out in the middle of the grass, once gazing the stars, now peering at the fox in curiosity. The russet canine had not noticed this yet, still spitting at the loss of a decent meal, its claws tearing at the grass. The fox then looked up once it was done throwing a fit and met the person's gaze warily. Black eyes stared into black, and for a moment, neither moved. Coming to its senses after being momentarily lost in the other person's gaze, it barked angrily, then darted away back to where it came from.

Bendy watched the fox's bushy red tail bob away and tore his gaze from where the animal disappeared, back to the stars. He had never seen stars before. There were much fewer of them in the sky than he had thought before. In his imagination, he had always thought of stars as being a box of glitter dumped into an indigo pool. Numerous and bright. Now, it just looked like there were only a few faint stars and some of them weren't even stars, just airplanes or helicopters. It was disappointing, to say the least. Still, the ink demon continued to train his narrowed gaze onto the sky, like simply wishing for stars would make them appear. He had been outside since sunset.

Watching the brilliant pastel colors of orange, red, purple, blue, and pink fade away into darkness had been fascinating enough, as he had never seen a sunset either, but there was still that dissatisfaction with the stars. He supposed that he should deal with what was handed to him but he couldn't help wanting more. His whole life was empty and he was always dealt the short hand. Was it really too much to ask for this one fulfillment?

Bendy grimaced as he remembered something Joey had said to him. This was when he was still quite young and new to the world when he was ten years old. That was when Joey had first begun to do more... invasive... experiments on his creations.

Bendy had asked something too trivial to remember that day to Joey, eliciting his creator's response: "You have the stars in your eyes. One day you have to learn that the dreams do not come true."

An ache opened up inside his chest, but the ink demon pushed it away, instead he snorted that he truly did have the stars in his eyes now. The dreams come true. A manic smile stretched over the cartoon's face as he realized that he would show Joey. He would show them all. Just as long as he kept the butterflies in what would be his stomach in check. Feelings were idiotic, meaningless, so he shouldn't have them. A tinge of fear shadowed the back of Bendy's mind as he remembered the cloud of negativity that followed you due to loneliness and he worried that he may one feel the same effect. Another suppressed feeling felt differently about that part of you but he left it in the deepest recesses of his mind. Again, feelings are irrelevant.

Now that the topic of Bendy's inner monologue switched to you, he once again pondered the secrets of your family and that single torn photo he found and stashed away. It must be strange, having a family, even stranger if that family didn't care about you. Once again, Bendy cursed his lack of understanding of everything human. It made him feel like an ignorant child. A prime example would be blurting out the stupid question about eating this morning. With a stifled wince, he recalled the confounded expression on your face at this question.

In the distance, Bendy heard the roar of a car as it pulled into the driveway. It seemed as if you were home. The ink devil simply narrowed his eyes and didn't get up. You had average intelligence, you would be able to find him. Besides, he didn't want to stop staring at the stars. They filled his head until the cosmos were all that was on his mind, everlasting specks of white against a perfect shade of dark midnight blue, with the moon shining silver in the corner. Even though it wasn't all that he had hoped for, Bendy still appreciated the once foreign sight presented to him.

He heard a few muffled noises from inside the house. If the ink demon concentrated, then he would have been able to hear his name being shouted, but he ignored the noises and continued filling his sights with the night sky. It took much longer for you to find Bendy than he thought. Perhaps you didn't have average intelligence. He grinned to himself and made a mental note to tease you about that some later time. His mind then grew silent, so he kept his eyes turned skywards, waiting to be discovered.

Then, cutting through the silence of the night, was the sound of a door being slammed open. Bendy looked up, seeing a very panicked and enraged (Y/N) standing in the doorframe.

"Hey," Bendy looked at you from his place in the middle of the moon-washed yard. "I've never seen stars before."

The frantic glint in your eyes was replaced by confusion. "What?" You replied, voice hoarse.

"I've never seen stars before," Bendy repeated. "So, you just gonna stand there or you gonna come on down?"

Almost as if you were in a trance, you walked down the concrete steps that led down to your backyard from your door, eyes strangely blank. You stopped at Bendy's foot. He gave you a look and rolled his eyes, then turned to nod at the grass beside him.

"I saved ya a spot," he stated cheekily and watched the skirt you wore to work bounce as you slumped down beside him, sitting up instead of laying down. You still said nothing which was somewhat alarming. By now, Bendy expected you to be screaming at him over being outside.

"So..." He said awkwardly to break the silence while gazing up at your unreadable face, which was turned upwards. "I've never seen stars before."

"You've said that three times," you replied blankly and refused to meet his gaze.

"Well, I haven't said 'Lay the fuck down, (Y/N)' three times, have I?" He snapped at you for ruining a perfectly okay moment that he wanted to share. "So, lay the fuck down, (Y/N)."

You snorted and fell back onto the ground with a light thump. "What now?" You said in a sarcastic tone.

Bendy rolled his eyes and held a gloved hand up to the sky, stark white contrasting to the darkness. "You look at the stars and get angry at how little there are."

"What?" Came your confused response. "These aren't all the stars. There are a lot of stars. It's just light pollution that makes it seem so empty."

"What's light pollution?" Bendy's voice came alarmingly close to your ear and you turned your head quickly to find his head turned towards you, eyes gleaming with the light of the moon and questions.

Looks like you walked into this one. Taking a deep breath, you answered, "Light pollution is exactly as it sounds. We have too many unnatural lights on earth, so it masks the stars and we can only see the brightest ones. Believe me when I say there's a lot more stars than this."

"Like me," Bendy said, swept up by a sudden impulse. "I'm a star. Everyone loves me."

You turned to glare directly at him and found him grinning up at the sky. "Shut the hell up."

"It's true," he said without turning. "You love me too, even though ya don't know it yet."

"Shut the _fuck_ up."

A laugh greeted you and then a yawning silence. Awkwardness bubbled between the two of you with each passing second; Bendy felt what would be his stomach flip. He told it to shut up.

"So, you've really never seen stars before?" Your quiet voice interrupted the quiet.

"Thought I said that three times already?" The ink demon said snidely, though it was without any venom.

A single unamused look told him to just answer the question or be annihilated.

"Okay, yeah, I've never seen stars before. S'pretty stupid but I just wanted to see 'em. They disappoint me."

"You sound like my mother," you remarked, the hint of a laugh in your tone. "I've never really stopped to look at the stars before. It's not like there's a lot of them, either."

Bendy decided to conveniently ignore the jibe at your family, even though that was the first sign that you even had one, and instead commented on the last bit of what you said. "I wonder what it's like, people being used to something I find different."

"People take a lot of things for granted," you replied wisely, surprising the ink devil. "I know I do, and maybe that isn't a good thing. Maybe that's why we don't notice the damage we do, too. There's so much we don't know or experience. We should probably start treating the things we do experience as special as the unknown."

That was thoroughly off-putting. Bendy decided to soak the words of wisdom in for a few moments before speaking up again.

"Now that I'm a master at everything about the stars, what's your job like?"

You shot him a quick glance before looking away to see that Bendy was still staring at the stars, his arms behind his head and black eyes wide.

"Since when do you care about my job?" Suspicion edged your features as you examined the sky, as empty as ever, with a few lone stars casting an unwelcoming twinkle. Briefly, you put yourself in the shoes of the cartoon next to you. The night sky had always been described as glorious, filled to the brim with distant planets and stars that glowed infinitely, not a dead and unforgiving wasteland of emptiness. When you thought about it, Bendy was right. It was disappointing.

"Just wonderin'." Bendy's answer tore you out of your daydreaming. "Ya can't just work at the studio and do whatever during the week. Plus, I don't think ya'd wear a skirt for the hell of it."

You grimaced at the truth of his words. "I don't, and if you have to know, then I work at some random clothing store  at a strip mall not too far from here."

"What's it like?"

The panic and fear of that day's work surfaced back to the surface of your mind and you winced. "People are assholes."

"So I've noticed. After all, I'm talking to one right now."

"Shut the fuck up."

"I'm so intimidated."

"I thought you said you were gonna stop acting like a douche to me?"

"Only at the studio. And on Wednesdays. I'm here all night, honestly."

"Bendy, I swear to God, I'm going to hurt you."

"How so?"

"I don't know. I just will."

At this, Bendy started heaving with laughter, and amazingly enough you did, too. Luckily enough neither of your neighbors were out, so no one would wonder who else was with you and decide to start nosing around where they didn't belong. After a while of trying to stifle your giggles, you both finally calmed down, and you started talking again.

"No, but seriously, I have terrible co-workers. Absolutely awful," you said in memory of the fake blonde dropout trying to sniff out your deepest secrets. Now fully recalling the day, you added, "And the customers are bad, too."

"Can't be worse than Susie."

"You don't like Susie?" You asked and gave Bendy a scrutinizing look out of the corner of your eye.

He curled his lip, showing off pearly fangs. "Nah, I don't. I always try to avoid her. She gets on my nerves."

"I never knew the person who got on everyone else's nerves had someone that got on his."

"Ha, ha, you're so funny. But yeah, Susie is annoying. I hate when she whines, that's why I stopped bothering her as much as everyone else."

"So if I just started whining instead of trying to throw stuff at you then you would have left me alone?"

Bendy turned to see you glaring at him, but your eyes still glittered good-humoredly underneath the shadow.

"I'm selective about who I bother and who I don't bother, but I don't think I would have stopped because of you whining."

Something about what he said was strange but you couldn't put your finger on it, even analyzing the answer from all directions. Then it hit you: "Why do you bother people at all in the first place?"

The air around Bendy suddenly grew frosty and distant. You just now noticed the change in the way he spoke to you before but now he reverted back to his closed off and hurtful self, instead of having the "all in good fun" philosophy.

"Who cares why I do; why d'you make yourself an easy target?" He hissed with a nasty edge.

You decided to not get offended by this and respected that he didn't want to talk about his actions, despite being fully aware of doing it, and besides...

It hurt.

You didn't have the faintest clue why, nor did you want to explore that emotion, but the sting was there all the same.

Taking a calming breath, you explained, "Well, you were asking me about my job, so I figured you'd tell me about yours."

This seemed to put Bendy at ease again because he replied without a snap. "It's not a job so much as a hobby. I pride myself on being everyone's daily dose of asshole."

"And you have the balls to call me an asshole."

"Yes, I do have balls. Thank you for noticing."

You faked a retch, making Bendy snort in turn. Your head felt much lighter now after work and panicking in your empty house and the moon seemed to wash away all of your woes. It was actually fun, laying there, not a care in the world. The two of you fell into another silence in which you listened to the sound of the night around you. Crickets chirped and cicadas hissed; a fox barked in the distance along with the twitter of nesting birds.

After the fox barked again, Bendy spoke up. "I saw a fox before you came home."

"Let me guess, you've never seen a fox before?"

"Nope," he said and shook his head. "It was red."

"Yeah, foxes are usually red," you responded drily, raising a hand to examine your fingernails.

"No, really? I thought they were blue."

"Crickets are blue, actually."

"They're orange, what are you, colorblind?"

"Everything's black and white for some reason. There are no gray areas."

"Me too."

You glanced over and saw the familiar, signature grin staring back at you. The cold glitter of the stars echoed in Bendy's black eyes and you narrowed your own, thinking for a moment, an idea beginning to form.

"Come on," you said abruptly and attempted to sit up. "We're going inside."

Bendy sprang up to a standing position but tried to argue nonetheless. "But--"

"Don't argue, just do it," you hissed, cursing physical activity while still trying to stand up.

Bendy held out a gloved hand, rolling his eyes, and you took it gratefully. Once he helped you into a standing position you brushed bits of grass off of your outfit with one hand and shook off the static that crept over your sight. Realizing that you still held the ink demon's gloved hand, you immediately dropped it wordlessly and then made your way back to the house. Bendy reluctantly followed you inside. It was dark. You flicked on the switch, the light overhead coming to life, and blinked in the sudden change. Your eyes stung for a moment but it quickly faded away.

By now, Bendy was utterly mystified. He once again harked back to a topic he loved picking over in moments like these: Why humans do the things they do and why they even exist. He fumed internally while watching you walk away and open up your fridge, pulling contents out to make a quick sandwich for dinner.

"Go sit at the dining room table and I'll be over there in a bit," you told him dismissively and refused to look at him.

Still angry, Bendy walked past you without a second glance, stiff and constricted as tight as a spring. Of course, you had to ruin being outside, he told himself while turning on the light and plopping down at a seat facing the kitchen. That's just the way humans are. They ruin everything. After all, one ruined his life, and another was currently making him question his own humanity.

As if on cue, you stepped out of the kitchen, sitting down across from Bendy and munching on a sandwich. They took up practically half your diet. Looking down at the table, away from Bendy, you swallowed and sucked in a deep breath.

"I'm sorry I said you aren't really human," you said, still not meeting the cartoon's eyes.

Bendy glared at you from above his crossed arms. "What?"

"I said I'm sorry. You're obviously a lot more complex than that, and while you aren't exactly the same as humans, you still basically are one. Just..." You took another bite of your sandwich while searching for the right word. "Different," you finished.

Great. Even more self questioning. "Ya didn't need to say sorry, 'cause I said it doesn't matter and I wouldn't wanna be human anyway. S'not like I have feelings like flesh-bags."

"I think you do, even if you're gonna be a douche and say you're so high and mighty for being made of ink." You met Bendy's black optics. Now seeing your face fully, he recognized the stormy look in your eyes and rapped his fingers in suppressed nervousness.

The clouds in your gaze cleared once you spoke up again. "So, in light of that..." You paused and reached across the table for a piece of paper and pen. "We're making a list."

"A list?"

"A list. We're making a list of everything you haven't seen before and want to or things you want to do. You're finally out of the studio and I'm stuck with you anyway, so we might as well make the most of it while you're here, right?"

Excitement flared underneath Bendy's skin and he perked up instantly. "Anything I haven't done and I wanna do?"

"Within reason," you warned him when you saw the fire set under his ass.

"Okay, um..." He started, looking around the room as if he was taking a test and the answers were somewhere within reach. "I've never seen... the ocean."

"Neither have I," you responded, writing it down. "What else?"

"A storm."

"Lucky for you, it's spring, so we'll get a storm eventually." Another suggestion went down on the list.

"A volcano!"

"Doesn't within reason mean anything to you?" It went down on the list anyway. 

The two of you spent the rest of the night suggesting different things to put on your new list, talking about life experiences (mainly yours, as Bendy had little to none), and overall being idiots. Good thing that that's what you did best. It was long after you finished your food when you finally checked the time down the hall.

"Jesus Christ, it's nearly midnight," you muttered and went back into the dining room, where Bendy was doodling absentmindedly on a piece of paper you gave to him when he asked.

Before sitting down, you saw that he was drawing a cutesy, almost chibi-like version of his face with the word "No" beside it. You had no words for the weirdness of this.

Bendy looked up from his drawing and bared his teeth. "Humans sleep, right?"

"Don't do that," you dismissed his question and instead pointed out how he was showing his long fangs. "I don't need to feel like you're gonna attack me or something."

Bendy laughed and faked a growl similar to that of a wild cat, but you silenced him with a deadpan glare. He crumbled a bit under the intensity and you looked away, sighing.

"Yeah, I do need sleep, but it's okay. I just need you to do me a favor, though..."

"What is it," he asked warily, beginning to draw again.

"If I don't wake up by, let's say nine, then you're allowed to come into my room and throw something at me."

"Thanks for makin' an appointment prior. We hope you are fully satisfied and choose Bendy's services again."

"Okay, smart one, but this is only if I don't wake up. Don't go and throw something at me if I'm awake."

"Aw, you sure?" Bendy whined and followed you as you left the dining room with a snort.

"Turn off the light before you leave," was all you said in reply without looking back. 

A flick of a switch and darkness answered your order. You were about to go upstairs to get ready for bed and not turn around to face the ink demon behind you, but something made you pause and glance at him. In the gloom, Bendy was nothing more than a shadow. He looked at you expectantly and waited for you to speak up.

"So, um..." You stumbled, not knowing where to begin. 

"Wow, really? That's so fascinating, (Y/N), tell me more."

The spark returned to your spirit and you snapped, "Shut up. I was just gonna say thanks for not being completely unbearable and that I'm still sorry I didn't think you were human and didn't matter."

"No one really matters in the grand scheme of things," he replied unreadably. "After all, we're infinitesimal."

"Nice use of vocabulary. But seriously, I..." There was something you wanted to say but didn't know how to or what it even was. The words you couldn't conjure stuck in your throat, making you swallow heavily. "Well, good night."

Bendy looked like something was choking him, as well. "G'night."

Staring at each other a heartbeat longer, you broke the trance with a glare and bounded up the steps, two at a time. The ink demon rested at the foot of the stairs for a few moments after the encounter, then shook his horned head and left to stare out at the moon from your sun room. Meanwhile, you went through your daily nighttime ritual of going to the bathroom to freshen up and getting dressed for bed quite slowly. Something tugged at you but since you couldn't figure out what, you shoved the feeling aside and finished getting ready to sleep.

Your bed welcomed you with warm sheets and darkness sweeping over you, muffling the distant sounds of the night that made you long to sit and stare at the stars once more. In your gloomy room, a more familiar feeling than the tug you started feeling pulled you down into its depths once more. 

It was loneliness. Familiar and ever hungry, it ate away at your insides, the sting more painful than ever before. 

It continued clawing at you as you fell asleep and made you long for the only company available to you. 

Bendy. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did I tell you? Dialogue, dialogue, dialogue. Jesus, dialogue. 
> 
> At least tell me you liked the romance start, please.
> 
> Not much to say besides please comment and kudos, thanks for the support, and Chapter 3!
> 
> Also, I cannot believe I haven't said this before now, but guys...
> 
> Follow me on Twitter. My tag is @ThrillTheKiller and believe me, you'll know it's me. I post lots of BatIM stuff, Warrior Cats, and updates on my fics, so that's worth a look and maybe a follow. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	7. Thunder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drown me, you make my heart beat like the rain.
> 
> Surround me, hold me deep beneath your waves.
> 
> And every night my mind is running around her. Thunder's getting louder and louder and louder...
> 
> Baby, you're like lightning in a bottle! I can't let you go now that I got it.
> 
> And all I need is to be struck by your electric love.
> 
> Baby, your electric love, electric love rushing through me.
> 
> Feel your energy rushing through me.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, it's TK here with another update today. So, first things first, I am so sorry this update took, like, forever. My family dragged me on vacation with them, so I haven't had quite a lot of time on my hands. Also, this past week has sorta kinda sucked.
> 
> See, around this time last year, something, um, came up and... Ah, who am I kidding, my best friend passed away around this time last year and I've been dealing with that. It just digs up memories I don't really wanna relive, y'know?
> 
> I'm sorry this took a while but I hope it's worth it. I'll admit, this chapter isn't fascinating, but I promise that things will get a ton more interesting next chapter. Bear with me.
> 
> I hope you enjoy this.

Storm clouds billowed in the distant sky, ominous and threatening. Little to no birds chirped in the charged air. A gust of wind nearly swept one bird, furiously flapping its wings, out of the air. It squeaked and was blown off course, close to plummeting to the ground. Regaining its composure, the small bird carried on, determined to find its next meal after being chased off from one of its most recent stops by bigger, meaner, and hungrier birds. When it left and tried searching for worms and bugs in someone's garden, a fox nearly ate the bird, making it once more desperate to eat and homeless. The humid air made the bird's feathers fluff out. It sailed on the breeze, wings outstretched, and hoped that it would finally find a home wherever the wind led it.

Meanwhile, back down on the ground, children were once more getting ready for school. One set, in particular, kissed their wary mother goodbye, oblivious to her tight shoulders and sagging eyes, then ran out the door to catch the bus before it left. Their book bags bounced on their backs and they giggled as they hopped down the sidewalk. They paused on a street corner but they didn't have to wait long; the bus was already rounding the corner towards them. With a squeal, the bus came to a shaky stop in front of them, and its doors swung open. The children then bounded onto the vehicle, chose an empty seat so that they could sit next to each other, and stared out the window. Their jaws hung open with awe as they looked at the impending storm and wondered if it would be strong enough to give them a way out of school, so that they could return home to splash around in puddles while their exhausted mother looked on, slowly falling apart at the seams.

You also looked outside your bedroom window to view the distant thunderheads, hair frizzy and eyes crusted with sleep, as you had just awakened. Strangely enough, you woke up earlier than you thought. You had plenty of time to putz around and do whatever you want. No sound rose up from downstairs, so Bendy must be quiet for a reason or lurking in the basement, neither of which you would put past him. With a sigh, you turned away from the window and sat down on the floor in front of your dresser. You began pulling out a few options for today's outfit and laying them on the floor. None of them appealed to you. Curse dress codes.

You ended up picking out another nice shirt and some dress pants because the was no way on God's green earth that you were going to wear a skirt two days in a row. Leave that to the idiots you worked with. Hopefully, there wouldn't be anyone too unbearable sharing your shift today and the person after you would show up during their own damn shift and you wouldn't have to cover for another person. The only reason you covered in the first place was so that when you needed someone to take your shift, they wouldn't give you a taste of your own medicine. It was also hard to deny someone some time off, as you knew just how annoying the job could get. Customers are assholes, your coworkers are too, everyone is terrible. A grimace stained your face as you grabbed your outfit and stood up, stretched, then headed to the bathroom.

Since you had plenty of time, you decided to take a well-needed shower before anything else, so you stepped across the cool tile underfoot to the other side of the bathroom where a small shower sat in the corner. A deep whine sounded before the water came on and you quickly stripped down to hop inside. The water was cold. You shivered but decided it would be a good way to wake up, rather than coffee or some other stimulant (drugs drugs drugs drugs drugs). Briefly, you wondered how long it would take for the tub to fill up so you could drown yourself, then scolded your mind for conceiving such a thought. No one would care, anyway.

You snorted and reached for a bar of soap.

Your shower didn't take too long, so you were in and out in a heartbeat. The air outside of the tub was absolutely freezing. You snatched a towel off a rack beside the shower and squeezed as much water out of your hair as possible and dried it off with the towel. Water was sucked down the shower drain slowly and noisily behind you. Hoping that it wasn't clogged and you wouldn't have yet another thing to worry about, you began your daily ritual of getting ready and threw on your outfit. Most of your free time was being taken up by being stupid in the bathroom. Great.

When you were done, you shut the door behind you gingerly and took a breath of fresh air. Storm clouds continued billowing up in the distance, you noticed, looking out the window over your staircase. There would be rain or possibly even thunder this afternoon. Remembering last night, you thought about how Bendy hadn't ever seen a storm or even rain. It seemed like one thing would be crossed off of the list today.

The stairs squeaked underneath your feet as you tiptoed down them, not wanting to disturb the silence. It was a relief when you finally stepped onto non-creaky solid ground again. Before doing anything else, you looked over at the clock with narrowed eyes, seeing that it was a quarter to nine. You woke up much earlier than you thought. Right now, that wasn't of utmost importance. You were more concerned about wherever Bendy crept off to. If he went outside again, then you would actually yell at him this time, people were out and about in the morning and if anyone saw him...

You didn't want to think about it. After all, the first time you met him, Joey had to be extremely gentle with introducing the two of you and yet you still threw an ink bottle at the cartoon demon. You didn't know whether to smile or scowl at the memory. Since it wasn't too long ago, you decided that it wasn't endearing, and frowned. You turned to walk towards the two rooms in the front of your house and check them for any sign of the cartoon character. He wasn't anywhere in the sun room or the dining room. Your frown grew bigger. If he wasn't staring at people walking their dogs out the window or writing even more stupid suggestions on your equally stupid list, then he was probably trying to learn how to cook in the kitchen or like you thought before, in the basement. Maybe he was looking for more ink to grow another foot in height.

Shoving away the cringe of a ridiculously tall Bendy, you went through the dining to get to the kitchen. Just like the previous two rooms, it was empty. There wasn't even a trace of the devil's presence. You then inwardly cursed and decided to look in the basement before assuming anything. You pressed on to the end of the kitchen, rounding the corner where the kitchen opened up to the living room and the main hall, then paused when you were halfway down the foyer. Something in the living room caught your eye. You backed up and turned around.

Bendy was lying face down on the couch that faced your sofa, head in his arms, his arrowhead tail tip twitching. You put a hand over your eyes and gave a growling sigh. Either he was trying to suffocate himself, or the damn ink demon lied when he said that he didn't need sleep. You told yourself that you would find out soon enough and padded over to his unmoving side.

"Bendy?" You said, voice quiet but not exactly a whisper.

"Bendy," you repeated, louder this time.

"Bendy!" Your voice rose to a hiss but it was to no avail.

Spitting, you raised a hand to slap his shoulder but paused in the middle of preparing for the blow. Something made you retract your hand and stand back up. Wringing your hands nervously, you stiffened your resolve and looked around the room. There, at an end table, lay a stack of books. Casting a sideways glance at the limp form of Bendy on the couch, you went over and grabbed a book, then stood over the ink demon's motionless form. You held the book up over his head, screwed your eyes shut, and released your hold on it.

The book hit its mark with a thump and you opened your eyes just as a yelp came from the cartoon character.

"Wha'? Whuzzgoinon?" He sat up, black eyes wide, with the book you dropped on him hanging half-open on one of his horns. He flicked his eyes up at you and then narrowed his eyes, grinning. "Heya."

"I thought you thought you don't need sleep?" You accused, crossing your arms.

"No, I don't need it, but that doesn't mean I can't do it. There's nothing to do half the time, so I just, y'know, sleep."

"I thought you were gonna try cooking."

"I didn't think that ya'd thank me for burnin' the house down."

"Well, that's too bad. I was looking forward to that muffin you promised me."

Bendy looked up at you with half-lidded eyes. "You pulling my tail or being serious?"

You didn't answer and turned away. "C'mon, get up. Put my book away and do something other than nothing."

"Ooh, can we measure how tall I am?" He asked while scrambling off the couch after you into the kitchen.

"Why don't you just say you're six feet and be done with it."

"Because what if I'm six foot one? Or six foot two? Ever thought of that?"

"Does it really matter how tall you are?"

"I mean, no, but--"

"If it really matters that much then you can measure yourself or I'll help you later. I have to finish getting ready for work, smart one."

"I am smart," Bendy said, usual arrogance creeping into his tone again. "And I look fucking great. I'm the best. Like I said, I'm a star."

"Hey Bendy," you said without looking at the ink demon who was standing behind you as you rummaged through the fridge for something to eat.

"What?"

"Shut the hell up."

He simply hooted with laughter and walked past you to the dining room, still snorting as he took a seat. Out of the corner of your eye, you glared at him and continued sifting around for your breakfast of choice. Bendy decided to once again doodle absentmindedly on the paper you left him last night, filling the entire page with cartoon nonsense, featuring mainly himself, but there were a few snippets of people he knew. Joey with a distant yet manic intensity in his expression exaggerated by the cartoony style; Sammy with a look of sick adoration on half of his face and the other half sneering, split down the middle with a thick line; Boris, ever optimistic and albeit a bit goofy, showing a kind smile to the world; Alice Angel with her usual dreamy expression; and of course there was you, looking upwards, grinning, stars in your eyes. Bendy tapped his pencil on top of the most recent sketch of you, then scratched it out while gritting his teeth.

You interrupted the ink demon's drawing by setting down a plate on the table and taking the seat across from him. Bendy looked up, beamed, and leaned across the table, resting his chin in his hands.

"Hey," he said softly, eyes half-lidded and grin growing sickeningly sweet.

You glared at him while chewing. "Don't be weird."

"Take your own advice, toots," replied the cartoon character, his smile somehow getting even wider as he continued using a honeyed tone.

"I'm gonna throw my fork in your stupid eye."

"Ever so charming, (Y/N)," Bendy sneered. "I should take lessons from you."

"Fuck off."

"I'd rather fuck something else, wouldn't you?"

And so the morning passed with the two of you bickering, whether you were downstairs fetching your bag from the laundry or trying to pass the last few minutes you had at home before work by watching TV.

You were flicking through the channels, disenchanted until Bendy suddenly shrieked and dived for the remote in your hands.

"LOOK IT WAS MY SHOW PUT IT BACK ON!" He said excitedly, falling over you when you pulled the remote away from his reach. "Look at meeeeee!"

"You're crazy," you snapped and glared down at the ink demon sprawled over you.

"Sure I am, what's your point?"

You shoved the cartoon and watched distastefully as he scrambled off the floor and away with a childish pout cast back at you, his tail flicking angrily.

"Deflate your ego and then we'll talk!" You called after him, then turned back the TV. It suddenly wasn't as appealing anymore to you and you added, "Besides, I'm gonna get ready to go anyway."

The TV turned off with an electric pop and you stretched before rising off the couch. A static covered your eyes after you stood up and you blinked it away, striding down the hall to your front door. Bendy now sat in the sun room, legs crossed, all traces of his recent disgruntlement forgotten.

"Can I go to your work?"

You didn't look up at Bendy while putting your shoes on. "No."

"Oh... Could I go anywhere else but here, in this house, one day?"

Shoes on and secure, you straightened up and strode over to the dining room table for your bag and keys. They jangled loudly as you picked them up and you also reached for the list you made with the ink demon last night, holding it up so he could see and tapping the paper.

"One day. We gotta finish this list, right? But you haven't exactly been here for long, remember."

The thought was jarring even to you. It felt like he had been with you much longer than three days, barely. If your roommate felt the same way, then he didn't show it, and simply responded, "Yeah, I know, but I've still known ya for more than that."

"And for pretty much that entire time I thought your spirit animal was a literal asshole. Don't argue."

"You used past tense. Ya thought. How about now?"

Damn. He caught you with that one. You struggled for a reply and ended up saying, "I mean that I thought that you were only an asshole. You still are one, but I guess you have a few other personality traits. Like bitchiness."

"You're so clever."

"No, I'm just right." You set the list back down and strode up to the front door, hand resting on the knob. "Uh, I'll see you again in the afternoon."

"See ya." Emotionless black eyes fixed onto yours, giving you the same tingle down your back as yesterday.

Stifling a shiver, you opened the door and strode out with your head tilted upwards in dignity to greet the storm charged air, ignoring the goose bumps that spread across your body and followed you all the way to work.

Bendy decided to not go outside again while you were out and spent the day combing through the unfinished part of your basement. There were faded photos, showing a slightly younger version of you smiling with "friends"; one of you he could barely make out through the smoke curling out of everyone's mouth, including yours; one more where you grinned lazily while sitting on the floor amongst many other indistinguishable people (there were also needles in the background behind you, which Bendy decided to not dwell on). It was all quite fascinating. While the ink demon was having his insides sliced open, you were doing drugs and going to parties where you smashed beer bottles on horny boys while high on pot.

It was quite depressing to look at. In every photo, whether you were grinning, sneering, whatever, your eyes had a deadened, empty look. The only photo that wasn't of you in your high school years with your soulless expression and illegal substances was the torn one Bendy found and stashed away. Even then, there was something off about that picture. A sweeping hunger for knowledge consumed the cartoon character when he thought about it. He wanted to know so bad it hurt. It wasn't just the thirst for information that Bendy put the blame on; it was the feelings he denied he had, making his non-existent stomach flip with not butterflies, but the entire fucking zoo.

Snarling, Bendy slammed his head into the wall behind him, then cursed when pain exploded behind his eyes and his horns made a lovely new hole.

It was going to be a while before the afternoon came. So, with that in mind, Bendy began digging through your forgotten belongings once more, waiting for the storm to break.

The afternoon was dark and dreary, for the storm clouds had arrived. They loomed over the small city intimidatingly, thunder a dull roar after a few muted bolts of lightning passed in the clouds. The worst was yet to come. Down on earth, you sped closer and closer to home, casting nervous glances to the heavens as you drove. You wanted to get home before the downpour, but most of all, you wanted Bendy to see his first storm. Hopefully, he wouldn't find this as disappointing as the stars. Storms were scary, of course, but there was beauty in the sweeping gale and crashing thunder.

You had mixed feelings about this. It would be beautiful and quite something to see Bendy experience his first storm but you didn't really want to be outside while there was electricity and hail the size of baseballs shooting down from the sky. Being the idiot that you were, you didn't check the weather before leaving home, and thus you had no idea just how bad the storm was going to be. In response to your lack of forethought, the first few drops of rain began to fall.

You gritted your teeth and pressed a tad harder on the gas. It wasn't far from home now...

A few cars rolled past you on your way, slowing down due to the now steady rain. Soon enough, you pulled up to your house and backed into the driveway like nobody's business. There was no activity from your neighbors' homes as far as you could see. Your eyes rested on the college boys' for a moment before you ripped your gaze away, swallowing the metallic taste of fear that they sparked within you. You were not going to worry about right now. Work was slow that day, but it was safe, and that was all that mattered to you.

Clearing your mind, you opened the car door and stepped out. You crossed through the yard to get to your front door, not wanting to spend any more time outside than needed in the rain. The front door unlocked with a click and then a creak as it swung open to welcome you home. It was dark inside. Annoyed by this, you stepped in and wondered why Bendy enjoyed acting like an aggressive emo fourteen year old. You kicked off your shoes, door still open, and threw your bag onto the dining room table. It landed smack dab in the middle of the table but then decided it would be hilarious if it messed up your perfect throw, so the bag slid across the surface and crumpled on the floor. Your following growl was drowned out when a large gust of wind slammed the door shut behind you, making you jump in surprise and whirl around.

Then, to make matters worse, Bendy decided to creep up behind you at that very moment and simply say, "Hey."

"What the fuck," you turned again to face the ink demon.

He was practically on your ass when he spoke up. You shuffled backward against the door to put some space between the two of you, leaving the space you previously occupied crackling with tension.

"What are you doing?" You snapped, surprise turning into anger that the cartoon had managed to sneak up on you.

"Existing," came his cold reply.

"You don't sound particularly happy about that."

"I'm the happiest person around. You're the one with a stick up your ass all the time."

The excitement you felt earlier was replaced with a sting. "Fine, then, be that way. I need to put my stuff away, so if you could be so kind as to get the fuck out of the way..." You bent down to pick up your shoes and straightened up, finishing, "Then that would be great."

"Be my guest," Bendy replied, unblinking, and stepped out of the way with a hand outstretched to your hallway arrogantly.

You glared at him all the way to the steps, then disappeared up the staircase with only the squeaks of loose floorboards as a memoir to your presence. Bendy stood still in the same spot for a few moments longer as if he had taken root. Then, loosening his shoulders and sighing, he mentally cursed himself and took a seat at the empty dining room table right beside your fallen bag.

Rain continued falling in small droplets as Bendy put his head down into his crossed arms, paying attention to nothing but the distant roll of thunder and pouring rain.

It was a while before you came back downstairs but by then, you had composed yourself and were tiptoeing around your house in search of the lurking devil. The storm had started to pick up and you wanted him to see it before it was right on top of the town and got worse. You found sitting at the dining room table with his head down. Giving a strange inward noise that was similar to that of a sigh and snarl, you crept up behind the chair Bendy sat on and paused before doing anything else. You sucked in a breath, leaned over him, and flicked one of his sharp, gleaming horns.

"What's happening," he said quickly, turned his head, and saw you. He visibly deflated though inwardly, his metaphorical stomach did a flip. "Oh. What d'you want."

"C'mon," you simply said, grabbing his wrist.

His black eyes flicked to your hand curled over his wrist, then back up to meet your level gaze. "Whaddya playing at?"

"Come on," you drawled and tried to drag Bendy out of the chair. He stared at you as if you were a mildly interesting TV show, then barely suppressed a grin as you fell backward onto another chair, nearly flipping it over in your attempts to force the demon to move.

By now, you were starting to fume. "Get out of the fucking chair!" You sat back up properly and grabbed both of Bendy's wrists, hissing in his face.

Taking a deep breath, the ink demon decided to humor you. "Fine," Bendy said, voice little more than a sigh.

You only just realized how close his face to yours and recoiled, hastily trying to regain some of your bravado. "Then get up and let me drag you to where I want."

"Ffffffiiiiiiine."

And so you let go of his wrists in favor of holding one one of his hands, dragging his unwilling self across the kitchen to the back door. You fumbled with the lock, still holding the disenchanted cartoon's hand, then threw the door open to a world of rain, thunder, and lightning.

"You're going to see your first storm," you said in a snide matter-of-fact tone and watched as Bendy walked a few paces ahead of you, into the rain.

Bendy tilted his head back, narrowing his eyes. The droplets of rain slid off of his jet black horns easily. You stepped to his side, still not acknowledging your hand in his, only wary of the ink demon's response to the precipitation. You didn't have to wait long. A grin spread across his face, slowly but surely, and he cast an excited bordering on insane look at you.

"This is rain?" He asked, breathless.

"Yeah."

A laugh greeted you. Bendy's eyes were bright wide as he looked away, back up to the heavens. You realized you were still holding hands and dropped his (like it's hot), then rubbed your wrists awkwardly, wondering if the cartoon noticed the same thing. It seemed like he didn't know nor care, judging by how he continued blinking against the rain and stretched a hand out.

A fork of lightning lit up the sky, making the rain pour even harder. It illuminated the landscape below with jagged shadows and blinding light. Bendy didn't care about this; he just padded out to the middle of the yard and laughed again. Thunder drained out the rest of his voice. It only made him hoot even louder.

"You like it?" You called after him nervously, keeping near the house and out of the worst of the storm.

"Is that even a question?" He called back as another lightning bolt streaked through the sky. "The only problem is that you're over there and not with me! Come on!"

Anxiety suddenly swept over you in a dark wave. Of course, it had to be then out of all times. You struggled to calm down and met Bendy's optics. They were no longer cold and distant, instead they were joyful and welcoming. Drawing strength from this, you released your stress and hurried out to the middle of the yard with your arms outstretched to meet the thunder.

Bendy's ecstatic expression stayed with you the rest of the day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, none too fantastic or any of the sort. Just more stupidity and such, so I hope stupidity is enough for now. Remember, just wait for next chapter!
> 
> Also, who got that one reference to my absolute favorite show (hint hint)?
> 
> Kudos to you if you did and bEFORE I GO I MUST SAY SOMETHING.
> 
> Which one of y'all reads Warriors? Anyone? Well, I came to the sudden revelation a day or two ago that I have the same voice for Bendy and Scourge. Like I said before, imagine Bill Cipher's voice, but without the slight nasal tone he has and make it a bit colder.
> 
> Bendy is a Scourge and Bill Cipher fusion confirmed!
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	8. Deity

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Are the gods angry with you?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! It's TK, and I'm back today with another chapter. But, before we can jump headfirst into the anger, depression, and fear, I'm gonna take this moment to update you on some important things going on with me.
> 
> So, first off, I've started going to school again! Ugh.. I'm just saying this so you guys know to be patient with me. I'll try my best to get chapters out on time but if I update, like, thirteen days later then you've gotta be patient. I'm not too worried about that, however, y'all are great.
> 
> Another thing: I'm not at my prime at the moment because this Sunday, I had to put my dog down. Yup. Old lady's had her celestial discharge. I'm not a complete wreck or anything because I know that she was suffering but it's still a bit tough to deal with. Again, be patient, please...
> 
> That's all I have to say about me. Now about the chapter... *laughs* It's great. And my longest chapter yet!
> 
> I'm not gonna sit here rambling anymore so read on and enjoy!

Days passed, rain had fallen, and many more meals were consumed by the ever starving little bird. It perched over a street busy with the morning rush hour. To many adults' relief, it was the beginning of the weekend, meaning that school buses and young teen drivers weren't added to the mix. Even then, it was chaotic. A dog ran across the road, nearly causing a driver to swerve into the opposite lane and crash into a coming car to avoid it.

"Jesus Christ!" You peered out the side window at where the dog disappeared, heart racing as you regained control of the steering wheel.

"Y'almost killed me!" Bendy exclaimed from the passenger seat beside you.

You spared a glance at him and then retorted, "Glad to see you're concerned about me, too."

"I'm serious. I saw my life flash before my eyes."

"What life?"

"You're so mean to me."

"You're one to talk."

It was Saturday morning, four days since Bendy saw his first storm. The temperature had cooled slightly since the rain but you could have sworn that your car was hot enough to fry an egg that morning. Summer couldn't be too far away. In your adolescence, you always awaited summer impatiently and felt like a huge weight was taken off your shoulders whenever school let out at the turn of the seasons. Now it loomed over you like a dark cloud. Summer meant that kids were out, obviously, but that also meant things at the studio would get even worse. Kids would want their cartoons.

And what did Joey Drew Studios animate?

That's right. Cartoons.

Things were already falling apart at the seams. Animations weren't being finished, sound quality was dropping, and everything was a complete mess. Add a prepubescent, angry, demanding audience to the mix and you didn't want to imagine the results. You just had to stay on your a-game and hopefully, the studio wouldn't collapse under the weight of its work. It was hard to foresee what was in the studio's future but for some reason, you couldn't imagine it pulling through that season.

Then again, Joey could always make a deal with the devil.

While you half-focused on the road, half-focused on your internship, Bendy slumped down into his seat and picked at the car door lock. He watched with flickering eyes as cars roared past. None of the passengers inside looked at him until you paused at a stoplight. There, in the back seat of a van, a few children peered out the window at him. Tail tip twitching, Bendy looked up and hissed, fangs bared. The children then seemed as if they were squealing, surprised by seeing an oddly familiar face (perhaps from a TV show?) sneering at them. Then the light turned green and the ink demon lost sight of the startled children. He stifled a snort at his quick attempt at amusement and returned to fiddling with the door lock.

Bendy also let his mind drift to the studio but for reasons other than yours. He wondered if anyone noticed his long absence. Hopefully not, because if anyone did notice and they cared enough to want to know why then that would require some quick thinking and lies. The cartoon picked over this thought for a bit but discarded it, telling himself next to no one would care about where he was as long as he didn't bother them. It depressed him at first but he quickly shrugged it off. That didn't matter, nothing did, in the end. Feelings are useless.

Bendy suppressed the urge to cast a sidelong glance at you.

The past week was possibly the best of his life. He saw stars, a storm, and even learned that it's not socially acceptable to throw rocks at stray cats (courtesy of when you took him outside and he decided to reinforce his territory by chasing off a poor little tabby that ended up in your backyard). It was absolutely hilarious seeing your flustered face while trying to explain to him that all living things should be respected, almost topping your soaked and wide-eyed expression when going inside after the storm on Tuesday. The tingles in the pit of his stomach returned. Great.

Luckily he didn't have to dwell on it for long, because you had pulled up in front of the studio, muttering about how no one had the faintest clue on how to parallel park as you slid between two cars and nearly hitting one of their side view mirrors.

"Looks like you don't have any idea how to parallel park, either,'" Bendy crooned cheekily at your quiet remarks.

You tried to silence him with a glare. It was ineffective.

"Right, so, open the damn door and lemme out," he added, pulling at the locked door while ink dripped down his face.

"Fine," you sighed, unlocking the doors and opening the one on Bendy's side since he was now a simple black blob on your floor. "Because demanding things is proper manners."

You speed walked up to the studio steps with your inky black shadow following you. The studio was as gloomy as ever, of course, and you felt relieved that you had made it on time that day. Joey's stern words and your stress still lingered in the memory of being late. While you were thinking, Bendy had reformed in a dark corner and walked off without a word. An ache opened up in the pit of your stomach but you pushed it away, telling yourself that you had a job to do, and trudged forlornly down an empty hallway to your office to start the day with an oncoming headache and loneliness.

Padding into your office with your back hunched, you threw your bag into its usual corner and turned the lamp on your desk on. If Bendy had any staircase floods or ink spills planned for today, then you could at least get a few drawings in before the moment presented itself. You reached across your desk for a pen and fresh sheet of paper, settled into your chair, and paused with the pen tip hovering over the paper. You remained like this for a few minutes. Still, your mind remained blank. It was like you lost the ability to draw, however horrible you felt your creations turned out.

You took a rattling breath and dropped your pen while putting your head into your palms.

Meanwhile, Bendy bounded through the hallways of the studio, floorboards creaking underneath him. He hoped it wouldn't alert anyone of his presence but he still stood by what he thought before: no one cared where he was. Dust motes floated across the dim lights ahead of him. If he listened hard enough, then he would have been able to hear the scratching of pens across paper as the handful of employee animators desperately tried to finish their next cartoon before the deadline. Below him, Sammy Lawrence wrote the next song for the new episode while Susie Campbell voiced nearly everything in the damn show. Stopping in the middle of the hallway, listening to the soft sounds in the background, Bendy debated on his next activity. He could flood a staircase, ruin someone's drawings, or steal everyone's pens and put them in the air vents. His feet subconsciously led him to the entrance of hallway where you worked.

Bendy realized this with a jolt and kept himself from walking down the dead end where you were sitting, head down. With a snort, the ink demon loped away, all while internally screaming "Nope" repeatedly. He promised to leave you alone at work (for the most part, as he remembered stealing your keys with a rush of fondness), and even then he didn't want to indulge the tug that almost always made him gravitate toward your office. Ever since you began volunteering at the studio in late autumn, the pull was there, and it didn't go away. It just got deeper and deeper.

Most of the time he ignored it, instead treating you the same as any other worker at Drew Studios, even worse at times. However, the past week made it harder than ever. It was amazing how just seven days could change so much. Bendy was actually considering to admit he cared, or at least, admit it to himself. Finding your old photos, being close enough to see the emptiness behind your optics, seeing that you had more emotions than just exasperation and anger, it was all just fanning the flames. They burned his face and made his regularly dissected insides squirm.

Bendy accidentally let an annoyed sigh slip out of him. Jumping, he finally studied his surroundings, trying to identify which hallway he managed to meander into. He vaguely remembered walking down some stairs but if there was nothing around to tell his location... Then, there at the end of the hall, he saw one of those annoying "Little Miracle Stations", with a halo painted over the door. Bendy scowled at it. Of course, he had to end up down here in the bowels of the studio with those stupid things. Crossing his arms, the ink demon turned away from the gloomy hall with his arms crossed and made his way back up to the main floor. His head was tilted upwards the entire time, suggesting the inferiority of everything around him. A few workers passed him on his way, giving him nervous looks from behind instruments and stacks of paper. Mostly he ignored them, but a few times Bendy decided to slap whatever was in their hands out of their grip and laugh. It was especially funny when Wally Franks glared at him when he threw his keys behind his back to who knows where and hooted in the janitor's face.

Many bottles were shattered and many workers were angered. Bendy continued his reign of terror throughout the entire studio, deciding to spend his day like this. He made employees slip over him when he melted into puddles on the floor, ruined drawings, and smashed instruments. It was all quite fun until Boris came down the hall the cartoon devil was in. Bendy, lurking in a shadowy corner, saw the wolf's approach and gave a wide grin. He allowed himself melt into a large puddle and splashed his way into Boris' path. This was going to be amazing.

The ink wolf drew closer and closer and then... He paused right before stepping into the puddle, crossed his arms, and looked down.

"Do you really think I would fall for that?"

Bendy reformed so quickly that he left half of the puddle behind, becoming his usual three-foot self. "Yeah, I was hoping you were gonna fall, actually," he snapped, angry that his trick didn't work.

Boris sighed, remaining silent for a moment, then spoke up again. "Where were you this entire week?"

"What's it to you," Bendy sneered in an attempt to ward off the prying wolf with an exceptionally nasty attitude.

"Being mean to me isn't going to help," Boris warned. "I'm dead serious, where were you?"

"You'll actually be dead if ya keep askin' me," Bendy retorted, the puddle at his feet disappearing as he gained back his height. "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

The ink demon tried sidestepping Boris. Instead of letting him pass, the wolf blocked Bendy's way, gaze serious.

"Again, I'm serious, Bendy. You can't just disappear whenever you feel like it"

Bendy snarled and stuck his face in Boris', teeth bared. "I can and I will. I do what I want; I'm a fucking deity."

"You know you don't believe that. Get out of my face and think for once! What if Joey notices you're missing, huh? What if he decides to stay at the studio when you're not here and when it's your turn, you don't show up? You know how he would feel!"

"While you may be perfectly fine with being dissected like a fucking frog surrounded by ninth graders, I'm not, so shut up! He's out of his mind! So, if I feel the need to get out of the studio whenever I want them fine! I don't want to be treated like I'm not a person! I'm not some science experiment and I'm not the Second Coming! And if I want to escape and go to (Y/N)'s house to get away from it all and stop living half a life then I will!"

Bendy broke off, expression contorted by an ugly grimace and breathing heavily. He didn't process what he said until Boris' tail swished from side to side and he noted, "So that's where you've been going!"

"What," Bendy said quickly and lost his aggressive demeanor. "I didn't say anything."

"Actually, you did, and honestly, it makes sense."

"Whaddya mean," replied the devil in a careful hiss.

"I mean that I'm not blind."

A snort greeted the wolf. "Could've fooled me. Now if you could do me a favor and fuck off, that'd be great." Once more Bendy tried sidestepping Boris and once more he failed.

"You're in love with her!"

"Define love," Bendy turned his head back and spoke in a snootily arrogant tone.

"I may not have feelings like that but it's quite apparent, especially when you stop thinking about yourself for one and observe everyone else."

"Yeah, let's all be like Boris, just stare at everyone and assume they're in love because one stupid reason or another when you yourself are fucking asexual and don't know the first thing about lovey-dovey emotions."

The wolf curled one of his gloved hands in frustration. "There's nothing wrong with being asexual, and I know more than you because as I said before, I take time to learn and realize everything isn't about myself."

"You're so high and mighty, want me to bow? Oh, wait, we have Joey and Sammy to do that for us. Sorry, I forgot."

Finally, Boris gave up and let the nuisance pass by stepping aside to the edge of the hallway. Bendy scurried past, throwing one last hiss back at the cartoon canine as he rounded a corner and disappeared from view.

As the ink demon swept his thin tail out of sight, Boris called after him, "Just so you know, Joey's staying here tonight! Also, while I may not disapprove, just be careful! Things like this never have a happy ending."

No answer came in response. The ink wolf sighed at his fellow cartoon's nihilism, then shook his head and padded away into the distant shadows.

Bendy continued storming throughout the studio ruining things with even more fervor after the encounter. Boris was nowhere to be found. You still sat at your desk, contemplating life and human mortality while trying to come up with something other than the horrible half-animations that you simply trashed without a second thought. Eventually, you found yourself hoping that Bendy would destroy something just to give you something to do and stop feeling utterly useless. Then, as if reading your mind, Susie Campbell stumbled into your workspace with ink stains covering her hands.

"Hey, (Y/N)!" She said, voice high and squeaky. She kept glancing from side to side as if she expected something (or someone) to jump out of the gloom at her. "Um, I know it's about lunchtime right now, but, like, Bendy sorta kinda burst a pipe again and now there's ink everywhere. So, if you could help deal with that, then..."

"Yeah, I can," you replied wearily and stretched your legs as you rose to full height.

Susie led you out of your office nervously pointed down the hall. "He's down there somewhere. I'll see you later!" With that, the poor girl scurried off to the studio exit to escape whatever Bendy had done.

"Thanks for your help..." Your low mutter grumbled deep in your throat as you pressed towards the spill, grabbing a mop from a supply closet on the way.

Squeaks sounded from the rickety floorboards. Overhead, the pipes snaking throughout the studio groaned. A scratching noise came from within the wooden walls, most likely rats. Dust floated up with each step, then resettled on the floor. A certain dark mustiness lay about the studio, concealing whatever secrets of held and warding away any prying eyes. The place really was falling apart.

A curiosity to know exactly what was happening in the studio engulfed you, similar to that of Bendy's hunger for information. There was always something off about the workshop but you never really acknowledged too much unless you were devoid of topics. However, the past week opened up many inquiries. It was Bendy's cold and reserved attitude to Joey Drew Studios and its founder.

Before you could answer any of the questions, you came upon the ink spill. Well, spill was an understatement. It was more like a gushing torrent pouring out from a pipe that looked like out was nearly split in half.

"How in the hell...?" You asked no one in particular, more amazed than anything else.

And so began the tedious job of trying to patch the pipe as best as you could to keep it from busting again before it could be properly repaired and cleaning up most of the ink. It was a tedious job but you still stood by your earlier thought that it was better than nothing. All while you tidied up, Bendy was nowhere in sight. Bitter disappointment bit at your stomach, making it clench, but you had not the faintest clue why.

It took the rest of the day to make the hall somewhat decent. By then, you promised that the next time you saw the cause of the accident, you would punch him. Even though Bendy promised to not directly interfere with your work, he had indirectly done so by deciding he had a personal score to settle with the ink pipes. Why he thought busting pipes was fun or a good outlet, you had no idea, and you also didn't think that you really wanted to know the reason.

When you had finished the job and sat back down in your suffocating office to once again state blankly at your desk, Boris decided to come out of wherever he was hiding for most of the day and greet you.

He came up behind you soundlessly, watching for a moment while you struggled drawing something worthwhile. After some time had passed, he spoke up in his usual kind tone.

"Hello, (Y/N). Have you had a good day so far?"

You jumped, not expecting anyone to interrupt your attempts at sketching and ending up putting a large ink blot on your once blank paper. Recomposing yourself, you turned your head to see Boris standing there with his tail swaying from side to side, faint amusement on his face.

"Oh, um, hi," you replied shakily and repositioned yourself backward in the seat so that you faced him. "What brings you here?"

"I'm just making it a habit to talk to you more," he explained, "since I don't usually get to and you aren't here during the week like the other workers."

"Thanks, but you really don't have to go out of your way just to talk to me. I'm sure you have better things to do."

All while the two of you exchanged polite and friendly interactions, a certain ink demon listened from just outside of the entrance to your hallway. He wasn't just annoyed.

Bendy was absolutely seething.

"It's fine," Boris waved it off. "I know you've been having some hard times lately, so I just want to check on you."

"Who said I was having a rough time?"

"You just seem a bit stressed and tired."

"Well, I've had a busy week," you said carefully, putting your guard up.

Bendy's sudden rush of warmth towards you was masked with anger at Boris as he replied.

"And why is that?"

 _Stop using her as an information pump!_ The eavesdropping devil screeched internally while the urge to throw something made his fingers twitch and muscles jump. He fumbled with his nerves and settled for animatedly crossing his arms and scowling at the floor.

"Nothing specific, I'm pretty busy with work and stuff. Um, have you seen Bendy?"

The said character froze, straining to hear everything you said about him.

"I can't say I have. Any particular reason why you want to see him?"

Though you didn't recognize it, Bendy could hear the real laced question behind the innocent curiosity. It left a bitter metallic taste in his mouth and made him see the red that was so familiar to him now.

"Just wanted to yell at him for flooding the hallway but it's fine if you haven't seen him. Anyways, I have to check in with Joey before I leave, not that I really have anything to give him but still. I'll see you tomorrow, Boris."

"I'll see you, too."

There was the screech of a chair being moved and the sound of footsteps. Bendy nearly panicked at the thought of being caught listening, especially by Boris, and dove into the nearest pool of shadows to watch early as the cartoon wolf padded out of your office. Tongue lolling like an idiot, he went right past where the devil was hiding and began lurking in some recluse, mentally preparing himself for whatever ritual Drew and Sammy had planned for the night. A few moments after Boris left, you came walking out of the small hallway, looking haggard.

Bendy gave half a grin at the cause of your exhaustion and his amusement. Bursting that pipe was the highlight of his horrible day.

Too bad it was the epitome of yours.

Currently, you had a massive headache throbbing behind your eyes and could barely walk. The long hours of cleaning really drained you. Internally, you weren't much better. Your train of thought was completely off the rails, you couldn't make heads or tails of your conversation with Boris, and you kept almost walking into the walls. It was going to be quite fun locating Joey Drew.

You meandered about the studio, Bendy never too far off from where you were until you ended up in the music department. Cardboard cutouts of Bendy were stacked against the wall and a few instruments sounded in the distance. You could also hear Norman Polk complaining about Sammy to another employee, most likely Wally, nearby. Something about him throwing everyone out of the recording room...

Your tired brain didn't make sense of this as you continued your epic quest to find wherever the hell Joey was. It was still somewhat early to be leaving but you were exhausted, so you wanted to report to your boss and get out as soon as possible. Even though he acted like a pain in the neck today, you were admittedly looking forward to going home with Bendy. It didn't take too long for you to get used to his presence (somewhat) and not feel as lonely anymore. You didn't want to be isolated with nothing but your depressing memories to keep you company, especially not today.

Not any day.

Trying to focus on organizing your thoughts and feelings instead of finding Drew now, you didn't pay attention to your dark surroundings and accidentally bumped into something tall and solid.

You yelped and jumped back, losing your concentration. You looked up at what you almost ran over.

"Sorr-" came your squeaky apology, until you realized who exactly you hit. "-yyyy...?"

Sammy Lawrence glared down at you, optics as cold and dead as ever.

A chill went down your back, forcing you to suppress a shudder. You tried choking out an actual apology and maybe even a plea for him to not kill you or a restraining order but the words didn't come, your tongue glued to the roof of your mouth and your breath sucked away by an invisible force.

"I... I'm..." Each word was a strangled, stuttering struggle.

Empty eyes fixed onto yours. "What's the matter?" Sammy mocked. "Are the gods angry with you?"

Now you really had no words for that. You remained silent as the musician's sneer grew, fear bubbling up in your throat like bile. It was almost too much to bear until a figure who came up behind you placed a hand on your shoulder, looked Sammy Lawrence dead the eye, and answered:

"No, they're not."

Nothing but pure relief flooded through you as you heard Bendy's voice beside you. However, the feeling was short lived once you realized how cold and hard the ink demon's tone was, then felt the emotions rolling off of him in waves. There was disgust, hatred, revulsion, and resentment bubbling underneath his black skin all aimed at Sammy. Behind his indifferent and challenging gaze was a torrent of feelings. As the two glared at each other, you realized that this was exactly what happened when Bendy talked to Joey when you were late to the workshop last week.

The revelation shot through you like a bolt of lightning, but like Bendy, you managed to conceal it. After you were self-enlightened, the silent face off between Sammy and Bendy ended when Sammy looked away and muttered, "Of course not, my--"

Bendy cut off the last part with a quick snap. "Just don't accuse people of things you don't know."

There was no answer besides the musician lowering his head.

"Come on," Bendy growled softly to you. "We're done here."

Not letting go of your shoulder, he steered you away from Sammy's prying eyes and into a shadowy hall. You didn't realize your legs were shaking until he let go of you.

Then, to your shock, the cartoon rounded on you and hissed, "Stay away from him!"

"W-What?" You squealed in fright and confusion.

"Don't go near Sammy," Bendy snarled in a dangerously low voice, his teeth bared, showing off long, glowing fangs.

You stared into his angry black eyes, utterly lost, and backed up a few steps so that your back hit the wall. Yet still, the hall felt cramped, especially since Bendy insisted upon taking up your personal space and your face was flushed, making it feel hotter than it actually was.

Not wanting to keep acting like a lost little lamb in a world full of wolves, you emptied the last reserves of your feisty bravery and snapped back, "You can't tell me who I can and can't go near!"

"That's not what I'm trying to do," he muttered, lip still curled. "I'm trying to tell ya that for your own good, just stay away from Sammy!"

"Why should I do anything you tell me?! You're not even giving me a fucking reason!"

Bendy's expression twisted even more as he struggled with giving you a real honest to goodness answer and spilling out all of his problems, and on the other hand, closing your eyes to the suffering that soaked into the very walls of the studio. "It's because... I just... He... I can't tell you! I can't say! I'm just trying to warn you because... he... I l-l... Fuck!" He hollered, tail thrashing as he smacked a hand to his face in frustration. "You just have to trust me."

"Trust you?" A hysterical laugh nearly burst out of your mouth. "Trust you?! I wasn't even comfortable being in the same room as you not too long ago and now you're asking for my wholehearted trust?! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I just need you to believe me this once!" His voice rose an octave higher and trembled. "I'm not trying to manipulate or control you, is just that Sammy... He... Don't tell me you actually like him because I know you're lying! He isn't right..."

Though his voice trailed off, the cartoon still met your gaze defiantly. With a sigh, you tore your eyes from his and muttered, "I guess you two have something in common."

You knew that Bendy was hurt even if you didn't see his expression. His voice was as frosty as a bitter winter when he spoke to you again. "Fine then."

"Fine," you sighed again and still didn't look at him. "Just, look, come on, I have to find Joey and then we can go home, so..."

You turned to leave the hall and search for your boss again but Bendy made no sign of moving.

"I'm not going," he said.

"What?"

"I'm staying here tonight. I'm not going with ya, (Y/N)." Though his words could have been perceived as kind, there was nothing amiable about him. It shot through you like a bullet.

"What do you mean that you're staying here?"

"I mean I'm staying. I'm not going with ya."

"But... I didn't mean..." By now you had summoned enough courage to look him straight in the eye.

You wished you hadn't.

They were as disconnected as Sammy Lawrence's, seeming to stare right through you.

"I'm staying here for tonight. Do I gotta repeat myself again?"

"No." _You made it crystal clear._ "Do you at least want to help me find Joey before I go?"

Bendy gave you be last cool look. "Find him yourself."

Then he turned away and stalked down the hall, not once looking back at you.

You tried to ignore the agony that opened up inside your chest as you stumbled through the studio, blinded by pain. When you did finally find Joey in the room with the table, you hardly said anything or even listened to him, simply uttering a good night and trudging out of the workshop with your bag on your shoulders.

It was amazing how you could get so used to some company so easily. Now your only companions were fear, depression, and loneliness, and they jumped into the passenger seat reserved for Bendy and followed you all the way home.

Back at the studio, where screams and chants echoed in the corridors and poured misery into the very foundation of the building, Bendy missed you so much it took his breath away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *screaming* AND THE PLOT THICKENS.
> 
> As you can see, I've put quite a lot of things into this fic, such as cults, family issues, and super creepy stalkers. It will make sense when the time comes.
> 
> And yeah I fucking made Boris asexual deal with it. *puts on five pairs of sunglasses*
> 
> I hope y'all enjoyed the chapter and I'm happy you're still hanging into this rollercoaster of a fic because damn, the drop only gets steeper after this.
> 
> Thank you for reading, please leave a kudos and a comment on how you liked it down below, reality is an illusion, at cetera.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	9. Early

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alice is shook and Bendy has noodle arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY FRIDAY!
> 
> I am so glad it's finally the weekend AND I updated sooner than I thought!
> 
> So, nothing to say about me besides the fact that school sucks and I fucking love Biology, so let me tell you about the chapter.
> 
> It's a lot lighter than the last one but I ain't letting y'all off so easily. There's some dark context in here and this is just the calm before the storm that I have planned.
> 
> *insert evil laugh here*
> 
> So, besides that, Alice Angel is a sweetheart, Boris is great, and read on!

The night was long and suffocating, full of the sounds of predators prowling in the dark. Foxes barked as they caught their prey, owls hooted, and cicadas buzzed constantly in the background. It seemed to last a lifetime before dawn finally broke overhead. A glorious pastel backdrop of baby blue, pale orange, and violet stained the sky. Creatures of the night cursed the rising sun, retreating to their gloomy hideouts and once more awaiting their time to rule the darkness. Birds began chirping as they awoke, soaring across the heavens to stretch their rested wings and search for their breakfast of choice, whether it be grubs, insects, or human scraps. Our familiar little bird picked at your front yard for worms as per usual, twittering in frustration when it could find nothing. To make things worse, a large flock circled above the single bird, waiting for their chance to strike if the yard was worth anything. Apprehensive of these newcomers, the small bird hopped away from the grass, keeping one eye on the group as it took flight to somewhere more plentiful in sustenance.

In the house the yard belonged to, you stood in front of your bedroom window, watching the sky grow brighter without much reverence. Your eyes were ringed with dark circles and your hair looked like a train wreck. The night was most certainly not kind to you. All while you were trying to get to sleep, anxiety and fear haunted you and whenever you managed to shut your eyes and calm down, terrible nightmares descended upon you like the plague. Your parents' faces, contorted with disgust and disappointment as they turned away and disappeared despite your calls for them to come back; a man grabbing your wrist, twisting it and threatening you if you didn't stay with him, asking if there was someone else; a blade stained with black and dripping while people chanted in the background.

"He will set us free!"

You shivered and pulled your arms close to your side. These dreams meant nothing, they were just figments of your imagination spurred by exhaustion. They didn't require an explanation. Your parents didn't leave you, you left them; you weren't in a relationship with anyone; you didn't ever recall seeing black knives or hearing ritual-like chants. They're just meaningless nightmares, you told yourself and turned away from the window, leaning against the wall. You slowly began sinking down as your legs shook, eventually falling to the floor. Your mind was numb and so was the rest of your body, when it should be buzzing with activity while it tried making sense of last night. Knowing you wouldn't function properly until you got your thoughts sorted, you hunched over on the floor and tried picking through the events of yesterday. There was your struggle while trying to make a decent animation, then Susie ran into your office saying Bendy made a bigass flood happen...

You didn't acknowledge the twinge you felt and kept on organizing your thoughts.

Most of your day had been wasted cleaning the flood, and last but most certainly not least, Bendy and Sammy were jerks and you hated them both. To prove your point, you grabbed the closest thing to you and threw it across the room. It wasn't quite as effective, taking into account that what you threw was a shirt. Thus, you decided to start screaming at nothing to get rid of your pent up anger and eventually stuck your face into the carpeted floor with a guttural groan.

It took some time for you to prepare for your rise, but once you did get up, the sunlight had grown even stronger. You got ready quickly to keep your mind occupied so it wouldn't wander to dark places you didn't want it to. You threw on the first shirt and pair of pants that were available, tried to make your hair somewhat acceptable, and ran in and out of the bathroom. The stairs screeched as you flew down them. It was eerily quiet on the main floor. The silence seemed to pierce into your soul, though you didn't know why. You've been alone long enough. This shouldn't be any different. With a long sigh, you trudged into the kitchen, not wanting to spend anytime loitering because then your thoughts would get the best of you and sweep you into its depths with a wave of depression.

You looked in the fridge. It was nearly empty. Making a mental note to go shopping later, you searched elsewhere for breakfast even though you didn't feel too excited about stuffing your face with food. In fact, you didn't feel too excited about anything. Blocking out the pain, you randomly grabbed at whatever food was closest and sat down at your empty dining room table after preparing it. Numbness blocked your senses as you chewed slowly, staring ahead at the unoccupied spot in front of you. You tried to not fill it in with the mental image of an ink demon doing something stupid, whether it be doodling absentmindedly, trying to get under your skin, or laughing hysterically at whatever expression you made if he managed to bother you.

Well, there goes not imagining the devil.

Refocusing your attention, you stared out the window, where the dim sun rose higher and higher and traffic passed by your house trying to get to the nearby city. Small children pranced dangerously close to the street as they enjoyed their day off, oblivious to the swerving cars. The ground was dusted pink and white with petals, in contrast to the pale blue sky. A light breeze swept them across the sidewalk, scattered them at the feet of those passing by and temporarily blinding drivers with a pastel cloud. The air was sickly sweet with the perfume of countless blossoms. Just thinking about the amount of pollen in the air made your nose twitch.

You sneezed.

Now that your pointless observations of the outside world had been interrupted, you gathered up your dirty dishes from breakfast and unceremoniously dropped them in the sink. They landed with a metallic clatter that pierced not only the suffocating silence, but your heart. It reminded you of glass bottles filled with ink shattering as they fell off your dining room table. You pushed the thoughts of impending loneliness away started scrubbing the countless dirty dishes piled up in the sink to keep your mind occupied. It worked for the most part, until your hand brushed against something slimy, thus resulting in you giving a disgusted cry and jumping back as if you were shocked.

"Okay, I'm done with that!" You told yourself, near hysterical at the lingering sticky sensation on your hand from accidentally touching whatever monster lived in the sink.

You were running out of options with which to distract yourself. Unless you were planning on doing an entire deep cleaning of your house, then you had no choice but to swallow whatever strange feelings were bubbling up in your gut and start getting ready for another fantastic day of volunteering. It was still early, so you took your time while organizing your things and putting on your shoes, and besides that, you quite honestly were dreading the day. After how things went down last night, you were unsure of the welcome you would receive at Joey Drew Studios. Out of everything, you were afraid of how Bendy handled the night because you sure as hell didn't take it in stride. Then again, Bendy wasn't you.

That was the thing, though. You just didn't understand him, or the studio, for that matter. There was something there that you weren't connecting and it irked you beyond all means. It definitely must have sucked seeing nothing but the workshop and the same old crew for twenty years but to the point of utterly despising it? Something didn't add up.

You wished you could say that you were determined to find out what secrets were lingering beyond the confines of the ink machine but there was simply too much on your plate right now. Dealing with anxiety, loneliness, and depression really took it out of you without adding two jobs, stalkers, and an ink demon to the mix.

"All in good time," you murmured to yourself again decisively.

Ending your internal conflict without much of a resolution, you jumped off of the floor after putting your shoes on and snatched your bag up. You hurriedly made your way outside, slamming the front door behind you, and then crossed your yard to get to your car. It was surprisingly different without your shadow following behind you. The emptiness inside you grew even deeper when you slipped into the driver's seat, unaccompanied by a cartoon checking how glossy his black horns were in the mirror and then turning around to make fun of your driving skills.

 _It's only been a week!_ You wailed internally and turned the ignition with much more force than necessary.

The drive to the studio was uneventful unless you counted yet another person flipping you off out the window (one more to the list, I suppose...). When you arrived, the parking lot was nearly empty as was the street in front of the dreary building. Taking advantage of the lack of cars, you parked right in front of the workshop. You probably should have walked to the studio like you did before Bendy's unwelcome intrusion in your life now that he was momentarily absent but you didn't kick yourself for not getting in some exercise. You were a busy person. It doesn't hurt if you forgot such a silly thing. Still, your preference of driving over walking now only showcased another unintentional outcome of Bendy deciding to plop down into your dining room one day. You briefly wondered how long his stay would last while exiting your vehicle and bounding up to the studio entrance but the thought didn't last long.

Apprehension's tight grip curled over your insides -- not for the first time and not for the last -- as you pushed open the suspiciously unlocked door. It slowly swung open, the squeal it made giving you the chills like it happened to be a scene in some cheap indie horror game (hahahAHAHAHAHAHA). You cautiously peeked inside and...

It looked deserted. There was no sign of any activity. Frowning, you stepped in, letting the door to shut behind you with a bang. No one came running to see what had made the noise. Your frown grew. Something felt wrong, like you were walking in on the remains of a party long gone. You scanned your surroundings before scouting ahead. A few chairs were lined up in front of a projector facing the backdrop, used to test animations before they were deemed worthy of airing. Currently, a soundless and short animation of Bendy swinging his arms ran. Cute. You narrowed your eyes and turned away. There was nothing suspicious about animations in an animation studio, so you just decided that your unease came from being so early to your internship. Hopefully, Joey wouldn't mind you letting yourself in if he wasn't already here. If he was fine with it, then you could be making up for your less than stellar work the last few shifts. You blamed Bendy for it, despite him actually honoring the promise he made for the most part.

Wrapped up in your inner monologue instead of searching for some company, you didn't realize where you had meandered off to until a loud hiss broke the eerie silence. You looked up from the ground and saw Bendy darting out from wherever he was lurking like a bat out of hell, and, still spitting, disappearing around another corner without seeing you. Startled, you slid up to the hall where he ran out of and saw a dumbfounded Alice and frustrated to tears Boris both sitting on the floor, holding hands.

"Um, what happened?" You asked, unsure of the reaction you would get.

Alice still looked stupefied as she gazed up at you with glittering black eyes. "Boris asked me for help to try and get Bendy to--"

"It doesn't matter," the said wolf interrupted Alice's explanation. "What matters is what you're doing here so early, (Y/N). You and the other employees usually arrive much later than this."

Trying to drop the topic of whatever situation Bendy had landed himself in, you answered promptly, "I couldn't get sleep and I woke up early, so I figured I'd just get to work sooner rather than later."

"That's okay," the angel replied instead of her counterpart. "You can go into the recording studio with me! We'll talk about stuff and laugh at Sammy, like what I usually do with Susie."

Your stomach dropped at the mention of the mysterious musician. "Is Sammy here?"

"He always stays with Joey when he spends the night here."

Interest piqued, you inquired, "Why do they even stay the night in the first place?"

Boris jumped in once more. "To take care of things at the studio that they couldn't do at daytime," he answered, looking at Alice instead of you. "Also, I don't think you should go off with Alice right now. You better check in with Joey before anything else. I don't know where he is, though, but I think you'll have luck if you check his office first."

"Alright. Thanks, guys," you briefly dipped your head to them. "Before I go, do you need anything?"

"We're fine," the ink wolf assured you as he stood up. "You do whatever you need to. We're fine."

Once he was stable on his feet, he reached over for Alice's hand again and helped her up. You watched for a moment, perplexed, then saw why the small angel needed help. Her legs were trembling violently, nearly making her fall over even with Boris' help. You hurried over to help the angel, steadying her against the ink wolf somewhat, but you were still deeply concerned.

"Alice, are you sure you're okay?" You asked gently when she gave you a grateful blink.

"I'm fine," she insisted and you only just then realized how good she was at hiding her emotions behind a dreamy, expressionless mask. "I promise, (Y/N), I just didn't have a good night. Besides, Boris is here to help." Wide black eyes similar to a kicked puppy's fixated on Boris' features, which were taut with worry and clouded with emotions you couldn't even begin to understand. "I'm fine."

"If you're sure," you soothed both the angel and yourself as you tiptoed away from the two. "Just, tell me if you need anything, alright?"

"Alright!" Alice agreed all too cheerfully, while Boris lowered his ears.

"Oh, (Y/N)," he gave the slightest shake of his head and whimpered sadly. "You really should take your own advice."

There was a brief and awkward silence as you struggled to find the words to express your complex feelings.

Evidently, you weren't going to have a chance to answer. "Go and find Joey. More importantly, have a nice day."

"You too," you whispered after the dynamic duo who hobbled down the hallway and out of sight.

Still awestruck from the brief encounter, you stood in the hallway for about five more minutes to process all the information. Then, blinking like you awoke from a stupor, you spun on one heel to exit the way you came and head to Joey's office. A small part of you wanted to see a certain ink demon on the way but that voice was so small you didn't even know it was there. It only showed its face in the form of your stomach turning and palms sweating. You put it down to being nervous about whatever Joey was going to say about your early arrival and pressed onwards.

No one came up to you by the time you reached his workspace.

One hand on the doorknob, you paused before twisting it open, and sucked in a breath from your nose and let it out in a long sigh. Now the tightness in your abdomen really was caused by the apprehension of your soon to come encounter. You were coiled as tight as a spring, ready to snap at any given moment. The dust in the air irritated your lungs, making you wheeze from the combination of anxiety and foreign particles. You didn't want to hold it off any longer. You quickly turned the knob, threw open the door, and stepped inside.

"(Y/N)!" Joey Drew's head popped up from underneath his desk upon your grand entrance. "You're here early."

"Yeah," you agreed, nearly breathless. "Is that okay?"

"It's perfectly fine. I'm glad you're here. But, if you don't mind me asking, why are here so early at all?"

You offered him the same explanation you gave Boris. "I couldn't sleep and I woke up early, so I figured I'd make the most of it."

"Well, in that case, you're welcome anytime. I don't have anything specific for you to do, so you can go ahead and get settled if you want." A pleasant smile that didn't reach his eyes accompanied his invitation.

"I will soon, but I have something to ask you, too," you blurted out on a whim caused by your earlier shock from Alice Angel.

Joey's false smile faded. "Go on."

"I-I came across Alice this morning," you started, wondering what you got yourself into, "and she was a bit off. See, when she tried walking her legs shook badly. I was wondering if something happened or if she needs help."

Joey faced away from you so you couldn't view the angry shadow that passed over his features. "That's fine," he said carefully like he was picking his way through a bed of nails. "I'll speak to her. Did you see Bendy or Boris on your way like you saw Alice?"

"Boris was with Alice. I didn't see Bendy. Or, I barely did, at least."

"Fine. Tell Bendy to come to my office next time you see him. You can go now, (Y/N)."

That was dismissal if you've ever heard one. Swallowing heavily, you tilted your head towards Joey and left, staring at the floor the entire time. His response about Alice felt off and why he wanted Bendy in his office, you had not the faintest clue. You decided it would be best to not hurt your head thinking this early in the morning and slumped into the little nook you called an office, then got to work.

People began trickling in about thirty minutes after your confrontation with Joey. You heard the annoying trill of Susie's voice as she laughed, most likely in an attempt to flirt with Sammy. Norman Polk complained about being kicked out of the Music Department yet again. Wally Franks hollered unintelligibly at a cackling Bendy as the cartoon bolted out of a supply closet upon being caught breaking brooms again. You rolled your eyes and pursed your lips even though you weren't even there to witness whatever destruction lay upon the poor brooms being targeted.

Looking down at your paper, you once more transcended into the world of paper and ink and moving pictures. There was no telling how much time had passed when Bendy finally did find his way into your office. Silently, he snuck up on your side while crouching down, peering up at whatever you were drawing and then your face, that was scrunched up in concentration.

He gave a lazy grin with half-lidded eyes then spoke up. "Heya."

"Jesus!" You jumped, startled, spreading a lovely streak of ink over a drawing that you had just started, then glared down at Bendy. "Oh. It's you." With that gruff remark, you turned your head back around and hunched over your now ruined drawing, wondering how to fix it.

Bendy blinked stupidly. That was definitely not the response he was expecting. Unbeknownst to him, however, you were still resentful of how he treated you last night, even if your night was long and lonely without his company.

"What? That's it?" He said and stood up. "No, 'How was your night' or 'How are you'?"

You didn't answer and squared your jaw.

"Um, if you could answer me, that would be great."

You still refused to answer while starting your drawing over again.

It was common knowledge that Bendy lived for attention. Any type, whether it was good, bad, or somewhere in between, he reveled in it. So, in conclusion, one of the worst possible things you could do was ignore him.

And like every self-respecting adult, the ink demon continued whining in your ear with increasing frequency to be noticed (by senpai).

Then, when you simply couldn't take it anymore, you slammed your hands on your desk and snapped, "Y'know, I think a fucking apology is in order before you try speaking to me again."

"Apology?" Bendy blinked and repeated the word slowly like it was some kind of foreign language.

"Yes, apology," you confirmed with a hiss. "For yelling at me for no damn reason and not giving an explanation as to why?"

"Oh," blinking again, Bendy slid one hand to the back of his neck while the other curled in discomfort. "Oh, um..."

"Yeah, and...?"

"Uh, I..." It looked like this was physically hurting him as he struggled to respond.

You were unwavering in your demands despite the devil's reluctance and you widened your eyes, urging him to continue.

"I-I'm, er, sorry, for, um, gettin' mad at ya for, uh, being around Sammy," he spoke to the floor rather than meet your hard stare. "And, um, I guess I shouldn't have done that... I'm sorry...?"

He raised his voice at the end like he was asking a question, then finally looked up at you while offering a goofy smile. You surveyed him up and down, watching his tail tip twitch nervously for a bit, then rolled your eyes.

"Fair enough. Just don't be an ass to me for no reason."

"Hey, it was for a reason," the ink demon protested one he regained some of his usual arrogance. "Now move so I can see what you're doing."

"I'm not moving," you deadpanned, tapping your finger on top of the near blank page in front of you. "Also, I came in early this morning, and when I talked to Joey he told me to tell you that he wants to see you in his office."

A snort greeted your message. "Joey can eat a dick because I don't give a fuck. Move your ass so that I can sit down, too."

"No."

Bendy then pushed you off the chair and stole it.

"Hey!" You cried from the floor, curling your lip at the cartoon who laughed above you. "You said you wouldn't mess with my stuff!"

Much bickering ensued, consisting mainly of pulling out the chair from beneath one another and snapping until you both settled for sharing half of the seat. Your thigh pressed up against Bendy's, making your skin prickle. You couldn't tell if it was a good or bad feeling.

"This is all you've done so far?" Bendy observed disdainfully, fanning out the sheets of paper you already filled up.

"I would have done more if you didn't interrupt me," you growled and pulled your papers back into a neat stack.

"You just have poor work ethic."

"Excuse me?"

"I'm joking, I'm joking! Actually, I can help you if ya want."

"Really," you drawled, crossing your arms. "And what do you know about animating."

"I'm literally made out of an art supply. I think I know a thing or two about animations."

Oh. Well then. "Alright, enlighten me. How does one animate better?"

"Okay, so, first off, your transitions are a lil' shaky..."

You spent the rest of the day getting tips from Bendy and delving deeper into the art of animation. Occasionally, you would zone out for a few moments, studying the differences between the Bendy on the paper and the one sitting beside you who was enthusiastically droning on about the finer points of form. For one, he was taller than how he showed up on TV, of course. Then there was the fact on how... human he looked. His head was narrow, horns pointed in a wicked gleaming tip unlike the softer cartoon edges, and the rest of him, while still extremely lanky, was perfectly normal.

Minus the tail and color.

While he was explaining how to make motions fluid by adding more frames, he glanced over and saw you staring. His face fell.

"What?"

You maintained a bored expression and answered, "Just thinking about how you have noodle arms."

"I do not have noodle arms."

"Have you heard of a mirror? I recommend it. You have noodle arms."

Instead of brushing up on animation from then on, the two of you argued on whether or not Bendy had noodle arms. The topic of making fun of each other's physical appearance lasted until the end of your shift. You yawned in the middle of calling out Bendy for having Pacman eyes before realizing just how late it was.

"I think it's time to go, now," you said, shaking off the effects of your oncoming exhaustion. "I should go give all these animations to Joey and head out. Wait for me by the exit?"

Bendy was already walking away by the time you offered. "Like I've anywhere else to go," he mumbled, tail flicking out of sight.

Rolling your eyes, you gathered your offerings for the day and headed out to find Joey once again. You walked past a few unmemorable employees on the way and didn't give them a second thought. When you finally found Joey, he was in the ink pump room, examining strange pedestals that stood on the outskirts of the space.

"Sir?" You prompted, gaining his attention as you cautiously stepped forwards. "I have my work for the day.

"What? Oh, yes, of course," he cleared his throat and accepted the drawings you held out to him. "These are very nice. Just let me..." The animator reached into one of his pockets and pulled out a thin wallet with a crisp ten dollar bill poking out from a corner. He slid it out gently and offered it to your both needy and hesitant self. "I would have given you more because these are very well done, but I'm afraid it's all I have right now. Have a nice week, (Y/N)."

"Thank you," you replied shyly and tucked your pay away in your curled fist. "You, too."

Before you could hop out of the room to happily meet Bendy, Joey spoke up once again. "I don't suppose you saw Bendy today since he didn't come to my office?"

"Oh, um, no, I didn't, sir," you lied without turning around. Somehow, it didn't feel right to say that you did, even though you had to lie.

"Alright. Go on home."

You then slid hurriedly out of the strange, dark room and made way for the exit where the ink demon was waiting to accompany you home, but one more obstacle blocked your path. It was Alice Angel once again, leaning against the wall while her legs still trembled; thankfully, it wasn't as bad as this morning.

"Hi, Alice," you slowed down and greeted her gingerly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, (Y/N)," she answered with a beam that didn't match her wide, black optics.

"You sure? You still seem pretty shaken from this morning."

"N-No, just a little tremor. I'm sure it's nothing. Don't worry about me when you should go home."

"Alright. I'm here if you need anything, though." You rested your hand on her shoulder for a brief moment, then set off again, thinking about how bright and glazed her puppy dog eyes looked.

"Took ya long enough," Bendy sneered from the shadows as you approached the exit with no one in sight.

You snorted. "Shut up and follow me."

The parking lot and street were nearly empty by the time you left. Like this morning, you had no trouble with pulling away from the side of the road. Few cars passed you on your way home. When you were halfway to your destination, you leaned over to Bendy and asked the question that haunted you all day.

"Hey, um, Alice was acting a bit weird today. Like, her legs were shaking pretty badly, and she seemed pretty reluctant to answer. Do you have any idea why?"

The ink demon stiffened. Suddenly, he swept into a dark vision of being paralyzed with fear while watching a terrified angel being pushed down onto a metal examination table, her tormentor ignoring the screams and someone chanting something in the background.

"No," he replied, choking on the memory.

Apparently, you could sense that there was something he wasn't telling you.

"Are you sure?" You pressed on. "Because if there's anything, then--"

"I said there's not."

You shied away from Bendy's forceful response and looked back at the road.

"Just wondering."

Neither of you spoke for the rest of the ride.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HaahahahahahAAHAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> *clears throat* I told you there was some dark underlying tones in there.
> 
> But hey, look on the bright side, you're getting along with Bendy somewhat! Oh, wait... *looks at plans for next chapter* Um, well, I suppose you shouldn't put the cart before the horse...
> 
> So! Good chapter, good chapter. Somewhat.
> 
> On the topic of Alice Angel and Boris, yes, they were holding hands, no, they aren't a couple. Well, not really, in a sense. I imagine them as having a queerplatonic relationship, because y'know, Boris is asexual and Alice is...
> 
> Let's save that for another chapter.
> 
> For now, we're focusing on you and Bendy. All I can say is wait for the next update! So please, help me out and leave a comment or kudos.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	10. Sorry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Girls just suck, they're out of touch. I guess that asking for a quick one is just too much. So, she's a bitch 'cause she doesn't like you back. She's omega, you're the alpha of your own wolf pack. 
> 
> But come tonight he's gonna think of you and he's got a tissue for his issue and a date with his hand. Hugging his pillow, crying himself to sleep:
> 
> "That's the girl that was meant to be with me!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God, everyone's gonna want to kill me after this chapter...
> 
> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back today with a SUPER long chapter today, yay!
> 
> So, happy tenth chapter everyone! We've gotten this far but there's plenty more on this rollercoaster of a fic. Just wanted to say thanks for sticking with me and I hope you continue to read.
> 
> Now as for the chapter...
> 
> JESUS CHRIST.
> 
> IT'S FUCKING LONG.
> 
> I made it this long for two reasons: one, because it's our happy tenth, and two, it gives me plenty of time to run before you finish and come after me.
> 
> Yeah, it's one of those chapters...
> 
> Everyone is gonna either hate me, Bendy, or Reader-chan by the end. Or all three! All the same, this is a plot bomb! I'm gonna hide in my bunker (*couch cough* Twitter *cough cough*) While y'all read this and then, y'know, come after me.
> 
> Remember, my Twitter tag is @ThrillTheKiller
> 
> Just thought you should know if you're interested...
> 
> ANYWAY, thanks for all the love so far, I hope you get some kind of kick out of this massive chapter whether it be positive or negative, and I'm gonna start running now!
> 
> *sprints away* LEAVE A COMMENT, KUDOS, AND FIND ME ON TWITTER!
> 
> *screaming* I'M GONNA DIIIIIIE!

Another night passed, and it was once again morning -- a Monday morning, to be exact. Strangely enough, Bendy had kept quiet for most of last night and seemed unusually jumpy. The silence had finally been broken when you had snuck up behind the nervous ink demon and scared the living daylights out of him, resulting in him hissing at you and then a full blown argument. 

 

Even with its ups and downs, the night was still better than the previous one in both of your cases. You went to sleep significantly happier and much less lonely, while Bendy was glad he wasn't being forced to watch Alice Angel get dissected.

He was also quite content with the tingling sensation in his stomach and down his spine.

Currently, the ink devil was sitting in your sun room, looking out the window at the gorgeous dawn sky breaking overhead. He stared at the heavens distastefully for a few moments, then fixated his attention on more fulfilling scenes. A small bird sitting on your front porch by the window caught his glittering eye. Scooting closer to where the avian creature rested, Bendy paused before acting upon his genius plan. He observed the bird pick at its feathers during the brief hiatus, then slammed his hands on the glass right beside the unsuspecting animal, making it jump and nearly fall from its perch. Bendy laughed nastily at the bird's expense. It then recomposed itself and hooted apprehensively with its reproachful optics trained on the sneering devil. Realizing that it was going to get nowhere with making Bendy regret his actions or feel sorry, the bird took flight, resettling on the roof of the house away from any other nuisances.

The cartoon continued giggling even after the bird left and took a bit of time to calm down. When he finally did, he was left an empty feeling, with nothing left to take his mind off of yesterday. There was such concern in your eyes when you asked him if Alice was okay last night, and it made his stomach clench even if none of that sickly sweet kindness was for him. After throwing his feelings out of the window of the moving car, he had then been left with his memories of being forced to watch Alice "examined" for the sake of some stupid book and an even stupider cult. Everything was stupid. To make it worse, Boris was nowhere to be found during the entire ordeal, putting Joey in an even fouler mood than usual which definitely contributed to the brutal treatment of Alice. Bendy had stayed to watch not just because he had to, but because he knew that Alice was especially susceptible to the aftershock of their torture and would need help. Besides, while he did constantly disregard the little angel and see her as a mere annoyance, it wasn't like he was just going to leave her there. However annoying Alice Angel was, she was like a little sister. Bendy had to carry her out of the examination room when Joey had seen enough since she could hardly walk. Boris had appeared in the aftermath, trembling even though he didn't take part in viewing. Alice, who leaned against the wall while Bendy tried calming her down, had greeted him with open arms, but the ink demon had another thing coming for Boris.

Bendy had snarled in the wolf's face and accused him of carelessness and being a coward. This had spurred a quite loud argument, with mainly Bendy hurling insults while Boris stuttered in an attempt to defend himself. Alice had quivered between the two fearfully. Boris, who had noticed the angel's dissent, finally ended the squabble with a booming bark at Bendy, telling him to "just go" if he was only going to yell over nothing. The ink demon then gave one final spit and had locked himself away with the Ink Machine until the sun had risen, not too long before your arrival to the studio yesterday. He had had plenty of time to decompress and let go of his anger at, well, everything, and had then ventured outside to the halls to find Alice and Boris again. The ink demon found them deeper in the studio, sitting side by side and holding hands. He had internally fumed when they both looked up at them expectantly.

"What?" He had snapped, lashing his tail. "You just gonna stare at me or you gonna say something?"

Boris had spoken up first, much to Bendy's disgust as he fixated his narrow eyes on him. "Well, we were talking about you."

"And?"

"We both think you should try and calm down. You've been worse than usual, lately."

Bendy had a sneaking suspicion of what the wolf was leading up to. "And?" He had repeated, voice growing dangerously soft.

"And, well, we think we should stop worrying about other things and stick together and try to think of a way out."

A high-pitched, hysterical laugh had greeted Boris' suggestion. "A way out? A way out?! We've tried before, dumbass, there is no way out until Joey and Sammy snuff it! If y'ave something to say, say it to my face and stop tiptoeing around me."

"Stop leaving the studio and forgetting about us," Boris had barked in response, bushy tail stiffening. "You're not doing anyone any good when you're only in a decent mood when you're destroying things and making life harder for everyone, or going off following (Y/N) around like a lost puppy!"

Alice blinked guiltily at Bendy with liquid black eyes after the ink wolf finished his tirade. Bendy gazed back, tensing his shoulders while his tail trembled.

"You told her," the cartoon devil had then growled at Boris.

He had scoffed in reply. Arrogant bastard. "Of course I told Alice, she's a part of it too."

"No, she's not! You're not even a part of it!"

"Bendy, if you're risking whatever Joey could do to you for the attention of some intern, then yes, we are a part of it."

Alice nodded in agreement, still not speaking.

"Oh, don't even talk, you have a crush on Susie," Bendy had rolled his eyes at the fallen angel's hypocrisy and crossed his arms.

"I do not!" She instantly squealed as her face exploded in a pale shade of gray.

"Yeah, you do! I've seen you talkin' to her! You only ever talk to Susie, as a matter of fact!"

"I don--!"

"Susie! You're gay for Susie!"

"I'm n--!"

"Gay!"

"But--"

"You're gay!"

Boris had stepped in before it got out of hand. "Bendy! It doesn't matter who Alice talks to, we're discussing you right now! You need to stop acting like this and step up, because if not, Joey's going to rip us to shreds and we're going to be stuck here!" A desperate whine caught in the wolf's voice towards the end of his plea but it did nothing to win Bendy over.

"I'm not doing anything wrong and if I wannna leave the studio then I sure as hell will."

"You can't step back and evaluate the situation? Think, Bendy! Even if you do manage to get in (Y/N)'s good book (which is honestly completely unrealistic taking in multiple factors), then what do you think the result will be? Nothing happy, I'm sure! What if Joey finds out? What if someone sees you? What if (Y/N) actually converts?"

At the last statement, Bendy had to keep himself from retching. It was sickening to think of you being in the same boat as Sammy. Hiding how much it bothered him, Bendy had waved off Boris' concerns with a shrug. "So? You and your what ifs..."

Boris' eyes flashed. "You're being reckless. That's dangerous. You're putting everything on the line, Bendy. You have to make the right decision."

"And who are you to say what's right and what's wrong?"

"At least I actually have a moral compass! Stop being such a prick and think about what matters!"

"Stop being such a prick!" Bendy mocked in vicious tones in lack of an appropriate retort.

"I'm serious, Bendy, if you--"

"Shut up."

"Excuse me?"

"Shut up! I don't care!"

"You should! Stop trying to be a hard ass and think about what you're doing!"

"I'm not doing anything!"

There was a heavy pause, the air crackling with years of resentment.

Alice, who was staring down at the floor most of the time, glanced up at Bendy again. "Please," she whispered, utterly defeated.

The ink demon looked down at her with wide eyes, surprised to hear her speak when the conversation was over in his view. Then, getting over his initial shock, Bendy has hissed at the two of them one last time and stormed away without noticing you standing before him.

All while he was reliving the horrifying memories, you were getting ready in your bathroom on the floor above the ink demon. You stood hunched over in front of the sink. The cool tile floor did nothing to soothe the heat underneath your skin as you anxiously awaited for the time you would leave your sanctuary and greet Bendy. For some reason, the thought made your stomach roll uncomfortably and throat burn with acid. It was jarring how much the night you spent alone and the previous one spent with company contrasted to each other, even if Bendy was in a peculiar mood during your time together. You were just glad you weren't alone.

Taking a shuddering breath, you straightened your back and released your death grip on the marble counter. If you didn't force yourself to go now, then you never would. Before exiting, you checked yourself in the mirror, smoothing your clothes and hating how your hair still looked like a bird's nest and cursing the dark circles under your eyes. You fussed over your appearance for a little while until you came to a sudden revelation: who cared what anyone thought? Not too long ago you would tell people who judged your appearance to stick it in their ass and screw off but now...

You didn't know what was wrong with you and you also didn't particularly feel like unraveling the mysteries of the mind while having a mental breakdown in your bathroom, so instead of having an existential crisis, you left the mirror behind as well as your sympathy for the devil.

The steps creaked underneath your weight like always and sunlight poured in through a window above you staircase. Illuminated dust particles floated above you and made your nose tickle just by looking at them. Fighting off a sneeze, you landed on the main floor, turning to the dining room and sun room to look for Bendy. Of course, you didn't have to look far. He was sitting in plain sight by the window in your sun room, eyes closed as a frown tainted his pale face. The ink demon didn't seem to notice your entrance. Smoothing your Monday work skirt out, you padded up to him silently, biting your lip as you did so. Then, when you got close enough...

"Hey," you said, facing Bendy leaning forwards.

His eyes immediately snapped open as he jumped in surprise at your unexpected arrival. "Oh my god!" He exclaimed, more cross than anything else. "God," he repeated and glared at you. "Really?"

"Sorry," you said lamely, hiding a grin that showed you weren't really all that sorry. "Were you sleeping?"

"You aren't sorry," he observed with eyes narrowed to slits. You looked away to keep your satisfied smile off your face. "And no, actually, I was thinking."

"Really?" Came your mystified response.

"Amazing I can think, isn't it?" He joked and stretched while getting off of the couch.

You watched with narrowed eyes. "Utterly awe-inspiring."

The ink demon paused while in the middle of twisting his back and stared at you. "Why're you lookin' at me like that."

"Like what?" You asked, furrowing your brow and not noticing the blood roaring in your ears.

There was a pregnant pause in which neither of you moved.

"Whatever," Bendy snorted and shattered the fragile silence. "You're just weird."

Air filled your lungs as you released the breath you didn't know you were holding.

"Shut up, you're the weird one," you retorted, turning away from the now grinning devil and walking into the kitchen to begin your ritual of hunting for food.

It was still a barren wasteland in your fridge and you mentally scolded yourself for forgetting to go grocery shopping yesterday, then made a forceful pledge that you will go out shopping after work, however much you hated it. You scraped together all the food you had left and made your breakfast. Bendy decided to not sit with you today, apparent by his absence from the seat across from you he usually occupied. Your oncoming question of exactly where he wandered off to was answered by the thump of something falling and a shriek that emanated from your living room.

You gave a gusty noise between a sigh and a growl and hollered, "If you ruin my books then I'm killing you!"

A pained squeak came in response. "You should be more worried about your books ruinin' me!"

Not bothering to make a comeback, you rolled your eyes and scarfed down your food to see whatever mess Bendy had made. You didn't bother to clean up after yourself and just tossed your dishes into the sink carelessly. You then looked around the corner and found Bendy sitting on the floor with a book in one hand and the other cradling his foot. A laugh bubbled up from you in spite of yourself. It was just too funny.

"Yeah, laugh at me when I get assaulted by four hundred pages bound in a hardcover," he snapped, teeth bared.

"Fine, okay," you said and leaned down. "What's it about anyway?"

Bendy put his forehead in his palm and replied, "Some feral cats ask this kid to join their gang or something? I dunno."

"Why are you even reading if you don't like it?"

He huffed. "S'not like there's anything better to do."

"Thanks for calling my house boring. I really appreciate it."

His black eyes lit up. "You're absolutely welcome. It really suits you. You're like a matchin' pair."

You picked up the book and threw it at him. Now Bendy cupped his horn instead of his foot, crying, "Didn't I say give me a warning beforehand the last time you threw something at me?!"

"Oh, don't be such a baby."

Eyes half-lidded, he gave a serene smile and purred, "You can call me baby all you want."

"O-kaay, I'm going to work early," you said and spun on your heel to march away from the grinning ink demon, completely done with the world already.

"Hey, I was joking!" He exclaimed after you and scrambled off of the floor to follow. "Anyway, y'ave some time until ya really gotta go, don't just leave me here."

Pausing by the front door, you replied, "Because an hour is so much time."

"But think about what we could do in an hour! We could cross off stuff on the list."

"Right, let's drive to the ocean, spend the day there, and come back in one hour while I summon a volcano really quick. Honestly, we really should put more realistic things on that list."

"Like what?"

"Like, I dunno..." Suggestions slipped from between your fingers as you walked over to the dining room table to scan the paper that both of you filled with bullshit. It didn't help. "Maybe I could teach you how to drive?"

An image of him plowing through Joey Drew Studios flashed through Bendy's mind. Between his lack of discipline and impulse control, he knew that wouldn't end well. "Maybe, but I still like the things we have," he replied vaguely and padded behind you, peering over your shoulder to look at the list with you.

You ignored the lack of space between the two of you and determinedly told yourself to not look over and _goddammit inner voice you will not lean back on his chest where the hell did that thought even come from_. Struggling with the electric shock that just went down your back, you inhaled shakily and retorted, "I can't exactly drop off the of the earth and spend all of my money on a trip to a volcano or the beach."

"Well, then, we can both think of something today," he said in your ear as he placed his pointed chin on your shoulder, making you stiffen. "I don't wanna be stuck in one place all the damn time. The only reason I left the studio was to actually learn how to be a human being."

That last part was a lie. There was a variety of reasons why, and while how to be a human being was a large part of it, he admitted to himself that he had lost count of all of the ulterior motives he had behind his choice.

"Bendy, I don't even know how to be a human being. I'm starting to think you have the wrong idea about this."

"You have no idea," he hissed softly, making the hairs on the back of your neck stand up.

Skin prickling, you finally turned around to face him, backside pressed against the table uncomfortably but it did nothing to increase the space between the two of you.

The silence was unbearable. Bendy's eyes flickered like obsidian flames. It looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't, judging by the tightness in his jaw and the way his gaze kept focusing back on your face whenever it trailed away. Finally, he forced a smile into his face and said, "I guess we're both gonna have to learn, then."

You gave a breathy laugh and stared down at your feet. "Right. Um, I'll just..." You tiptoed away from the tense situation and Bendy, crouching beside the front door awkwardly while searching for your shoes. "I think I'll go to work, now."

"Okay," the ink demon slunk up behind you again and watched warily.

"I'm gonna be out a bit later than usual because I have to go shopping, too."

"So," you said, picking up your bag from where it slumped beside your shoes. You looked up to stare back at Bendy. "I'll be off."

"Right."

It seemed like that was the end of your terse exchange once your hand tested upon the front door knob but then you paused in the middle of turning it. There was so much you wanted to say and ask, ranging everywhere from interrogating the devil about what was really happening at the studio to crying out to no one in particular why you felt this way. Instead, the tumultuous inquiries formed in the form of one simple phrase that meant so little yet so much at the same time.

"Are you okay?"

"What?" Bendy was clearly taken aback by the question, so much so that he was plunged into the real parameters of what you were asking and imagined Alice being nothing less than shredded, arguing with you over Sammy, and being engulfed with hunger while going through your old photos. "Yeah, I'm fine. You?" He ventured, long tail flicking.

Bitterness seeped into every word you uttered after that, spoken like poison on your tongue. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Bendy could do nothing but watch as you slammed the door upon your exit and stormed down the sidewalk to your car and eventually driving away without looking back.

The hunger that was so familiar to him now crashed over Bendy as he took up his usual position of sulking in your basement. It was accompanied by a trace of desperation, how he was going to make this work, how he was even expected to win you over. Every single part of him was screaming when he had you backed up against the table and it took no less than the entirety of his being to refrain from doing something, well, stupid. So, he began planning something the only way he knew how.

With ulterior motives and his natural cheeky yet charming personality.

You got out of work early, much to your relief. Boobs McKenzie was once again your partner for the day and what made it even worse was that she was in a foul mood and took it out on you by making fun of your lack of a social life and "like, how weird it is that you're not dating anyone? Um, don't you ever go out, I mean, seriously?"

You had then offered to fix the displays and you were quite glad that you did, not only because it had meant that you wouldn't have a fake blonde bimbo squealing in your ear, but it gave you an idea for something to do with Bendy.

You cast a swift glance towards the passenger seat where heaps of men's clothes lay, mostly consisting of hoodies and jeans. It was a pain in your ass to get them since the only measurements you had of Bendy were "skinny and tall" and you couldn't even compare your size and body type to his and make a lucky guess because men's sizes and women's sizes are so different.

"Whatever," you muttered to yourself and hoped that they were the right size and that Bendy wouldn't throw a fit over them either.

You had something planned for the night, in substitution for other things on your list. Maybe Bendy wouldn't find the city as disappointing as the stars.

You swore that you would punch him if he did.

The sky was a dark orange, stained with varying shades of violet in the distance as the sun set beyond the horizon. _Angel's blood_ , you thought offhandedly at the deep, vibrant colors. Houses cast long shadows in the dying glow of the setting sun, splitting your vision between gnarled black shapes and the last few rays of sunlight. A few stars had already appeared overhead, opposing the sun in the darker part of the sky. The moon's faint crescent outline shimmered as it awaited its turn to take over the sky and bring forth the night along with all of its creatures. A chill began descending over the land, covering up the warmth of late spring daylight, driving away all those who looked to the sun. Crickets overtook the singing of birds with monotonous chirping. By the time you got home, there were only a few streaks of red left above and a small sliver of the sun could be seen left behind where the sky and land met.

It was a feat to bring in all of your merchandise at once. You didn't want to leave it out on your car between trips because the people who lived near you didn't have the highest morale and you didn't want to stay outside longer than needed, either. Like you said, people in these parts were sleazy and had no common decency. Struggling with the door lock and dropping your keys nearly five times, you finally managed to throw open the door and stumble in.

Bendy watched with wide eyes from the sun room couch as a monster made out of shopping bags slumped into the foyer.

Your head popped out from the side of the mound and squeaked, "Help me?"

He immediately jumped up and assisted you by taking half of the pile.

Free of the suffocating mass, you gasped and up with a broken smile. "Thanks."

Bendy's stomach dropped. He covered it up with a grin in return and a cheeky remark. "Didn't know you were converting yourself to a retail store."

You glared at him, clearly not meaning the dirty look, and replied, "I told you I was going shopping."

The two of you had set down all of the bags on your dining room table before the ink demon spoke again. "Yeah, but why did you get so many clothes?" He asked, incredulous, and opening one of the bags to peer inside.

You slapped his hand away and folded the bag closed. "No. Go put away the food."

"What? Why can't I look? I don't even know where the food is s'posed to go!"

"Cold stuff goes in the fridge, dry stuff goes in the pantry," you answered simply, not looking up as you sorted through the merchandise, separating the food from clothes and then sliding the grocery bags over to Bendy with a raised eyebrow. "Well? Start putting this away so I can do this."

He snatched the bags and huffed as he stalked off to the kitchen. You rolled your eyes upon his departure. That got one thing out of your hair. While the cartoon character slammed cabinets in resentment of being dismissed so casually, you sorted through the clothes while sitting in your main hall, the distant kitchen lights giving you still lighting as you worked your way through hoodies and jeans and yes, you had even picked out a pack of underwear hastily and face burning like it was on fire at the store. You decided to leave that in the bag. When you were almost finished with separating the articles of clothing, Bendy had completed the task you gave him and wandered back out to the main hall with you. He cocked his head one he saw all of the clothes you had laid out.

"What's all this for?" The ink demon asked, settling down beside you with his spindly legs crossed.

By now you were almost done putting the organized clothing back into the bags. While you slid the last pair of jeans into place, you replied simply, "It's for you."

  
"What?" A note of disbelief crept into his tone and you could feel his black eyes boring holes into the side of your head. "You serious?"

  
"No, this was some elaborate joke I set up, I'm actually gonna go return all of this right now," you retorted, bitter sarcasm dripping like ink off of every word. "Of course I'm serious! I did this for a reason, so go try these on so I know I didn't get the wrong sizes."

You threw the bags at his chest and he caught them with an "Oof!"

"Also, that guest bedroom down the hall upstairs? You can have it. Go ahead and take all of your crap up there."

"Who are you and what've ya done with (Y/N)?"

With a halfhearted huff you crossed your arms and looked away, hiding the pleased smile that was threatening to spread across your face. "Just go before I change my mind. And come back down with a hoodie and jeans but keep your gloves on and don't let your tail stick out."

"Okay," he said slowly, processing the strange instructions. "I'll be right back, then."

"You do that," you muttered and continued sulking.

"(Y/N)?"

Bendy's unusually soft voice made you look up at the stairs where he was about to disappear. His face was unreadable, but his voice said it all.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," you whispered back long after he had gone and sat in the hallway, alone for the time being.

It didn't take too long for the devil to come back down but it still scared the living daylights when he damn near flew down the stairs.

"Hey," he said, breathless with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face. "Don't I look great?"

You avoided staring too long at the rise and fall of his chest as it mimicked breathing underneath his sweatshirt and quickly scanned him up and down. "I guess you're fine," you stated, disenchanted.

"Fine is an understatement of epic proportions. Look, ya got me emo shoes," he said and pointed down at the Converse you got him. The wide beam he had on when he approached was still as bright as ever on his face.

You allowed yourself to give a thin smile. "I thought you'd like those."

"So, you gonna tell me why you're making me dress like a normal person?"

"Oh, yeah, well, I'm taking you out tonight."

The reality of what you just said without thinking about it didn't hit you until one of his eyebrows shot up to the roof and his eyes flickered.

"Oh! Um, wait, that's not I that I -- I mean, uh, I was -- not like, out out, but, just, er --" you stammered, knowing fully well that you were digging your own grave when the ink demon's face grew more and more incredulous. "Ugh, that's just... That's not what I meant..."

"Y'know, if ya wanna take me on a date then you should really warn me beforehand," he said, a snicker in his voice as he watched you get even more flustered.

"Shut up," you snapped back blandly, then curled your lip once he tilted his head back and laughed. "I'm gonna go get changed..."

Bendy's optics were still glimmering with amusement when you came back downstairs in much more comfortable clothes, consisting of a hoodie and some plain jeans like your counterpart's. Noticing how his black eyes still glittered, you rolled your own and turned away from him and to the door, opening it to welcome the fresh night air.

"C'mon, I'm showing you the city," you waved your hand for him to follow and pulled his hood over his horns to hide his face once he approached your side.

It was a bit of a forceful pull, explaining why he then yanked yours over your head and gave a mean laugh while you were temporarily blinded.

You two bickered all the way until you reached the outskirts of the city, where Joey Drew Studios sat ever oppressive in the dark environment. Both you and Bendy were hushed while walking past the forlorn workshop and you could have sworn that the ink demon sneered "Good riddance" out of the corner of his mouth while walking by. Once it was behind you, however, Bendy noticeably brightened and began talking again. This time, instead of fighting over hoodies, he tried interrogating you about the city before you even arrived.

"Just wait and you'll see," you sighed impatiently with his stubborn persistence.

"Yeah, but..." He sucked in a breath to his nonexistent lungs in preparation for more arguing and you squared your jaw.

If Bendy had actually been paying attention, then he would have realized that the buildings were getting taller and more crowded around them, neon lights now illuminated your path, and people filled up the sidewalk and cars crowded the streets.

"Bendy," you outstretched a hand and interrupted him as he plowed on about how he has a right to know things, "welcome to the city."

He immediately snapped his mouth shut and looked around at the scene he had failed to acknowledge. A warm feeling spread from the center of your being to your fingertips while you watched his eyes stretch wide underneath his hood, trying to soak in all of the information at once as his senses were suddenly overloaded with feelings. The smell of exhaust hung in the air from the many passing cars and footsteps of people going by pattered on the sidewalk. Flashing lights made his optics narrow and the cool breeze bit at his face as it blew through his sweatshirt. To top it all off, the tingling sensation that was never absent in your presence exploded as you pressed your side against his and asked hesitantly, "Do you... Do you like it?"

He felt he was answering for more than liking the city when he replied, "Yes."

The butterflies got when worse when you beamed up at him. "Good. Now come on, I haven't eaten since breakfast and I'm starving, we can walk around after."

Bendy allowed himself to be dragged around the streets and sat down in some random diner with you even though he had no use for food. The young waitress was especially pissy when she turned to Bendy after getting your order and said that he wasn't eating. The nervous smile he gave underneath his hood when she glared daggers at him didn't seem to help. It was a relief when she sashayed away, swinging her hips as she disappeared into the restaurant kitchen.

"Were you checking her out?" You asked him unexpectedly with your chin placed on your folded arms, voice mellow.

Bendy felt scandalized. "No."

"Okay."

He then decided it was a good idea to make jokes about how the only person he checked out was you, causing you to throw a napkin across the table that simply fluttered gently down in front of Bendy.

"You used napkin," he said, grinning. "It is ineffective."

The arrival of your food kept you from throwing a ketchup bottle at his face.

It was even more relieving when you finally left that place than when the salty waitress left Bendy alone. He practically dragged you out of your seat the moment you finished, complaining about how horrible your sense of fun is and that it was so boring in there and he hated everyone in it.

"And the waitress looked like she was gonna stab you," you laughed, walking along the sidewalk with Bendy side by side to nowhere in particular.

"I know!" He exclaimed and you could just see his eyes glimmering underneath his hood. "I felt like my life was in danger."

"Well, I'm sorry I put you through that traumatic experience, send the bill for your therapy to me."

A thoughtful look passed over Bendy's hidden features. "You're gonna be paying an arm and a leg for that."

"And my soul."

_I actually just want your heart, thank you very much._

"I think you should start saving up," Bendy teased, letting the smallest hint of the affection he had been bottling up taint his voice as he reached over and pulled your hood over your head again.

"Hey!" You waved him off indignantly and laughed. "You're the one who's gonna be paying for my therapy," you said, trying to pull your hood off but to no avail due to the ink demon holding it over your eyes.

"Well, the thing is, you're gonna have to catch me first."

You ceased your struggles and said "What?"

Then he let go of your hood, jabbed your stomach while saying "Tag!" and then ran away, hooting with laughter.

"Seriously?!" You cried out as he left, knowing fully well that chasing him is exactly what he wanted but your treacherous heart and legs led you after him.

The buildings around grew more sinister and dark as you trailed behind, shoes slapping on the pavement with mini echoes following each fall. Your gaze was tunnel vision for the brief glimpses of Bendy you would get while your eyes were on the price, so the changes in your surroundings went unnoticed. Heart beating heavily with exertion and excitement, you rounded one last corner to find the ink demon facing away from you into the corner, saying something you couldn't make out.

You paused and gingerly made your way over to him, about to ask what was wrong, but a voice from the shadows made you freeze in fear.

"(Y/N)?" Your college boy neighbor who had a strange obsession with you for some reason sneered icily. "What are you doing here?"

"I was, just, walking around," you mumbled, sidling up to Bendy and tried not to shiver as you pressed your side against his.

The college boy narrowed his eyes and the rest of his pack followed suit. "With this guy? Who even is he?" He looked over to your ink demon companion, hidden underneath his hoodie. "It feels like I know you."

Beside you, Bendy piped up casually despite the coiled tension you could feel in his limbs. "My name's Bendy," he answered honestly, much to your dismay. "And I don't think we've got the... _pleasure_ of meeting."

This didn't ease the boy's suspicions. "How do you know (Y/N)?"

"From work."

"Are you...?"

"She's my friend."

You hated how they were talking about you as if you weren't there. "Yeah, we're just friends, so what?" You intervened between their seemingly polite exchange after this but almost anyone could fell the stress rippling beneath the surface. "And we should get going now, so..."

Hand curled around his wrist, you dragged the ink demon away from the college boys who seemed to be closing in on you, snarling like a pack of starving wolves. You didn't realize you were shaking until you left the backstreet alleys behind you and were hunched over, heaving from the bitter taste of panic in your throat. Bendy peered over at you, his concerned eyes masked by the shadow of his hoodie.

"I'm fine," you gasped and used his sweatshirt collar to pull yourself back up. "We should go home."

"Right," he said and chanced a stupid grin while you clung to his collar.

A glare was returned and you both turned to begin the walk home. For the most part, you were both silent, lost in thought. The light of the city faded into the background the further you walked, casting long shadows of your outline across the pavement. Bendy studied his and marveled at how much his shadow looked like a normal human being. He could almost trick himself into believing that he was made out flesh and bone and not sinews of ink. Almost on cue, Joey Drew Studios appeared over the horizon, making the high Bendy felt for most of the night fade away in the form of his shoulders slumping and face falling. He had forgotten about the events of last night in light of the fluttering in his stomach and pale gray that dusted his face for most of the outing. Briefly, he wondered how Alice and Boris were doing but quickly pushed the thought away, though it continued haunting him as the studio faded from sight.

He was then knocked out of his thoughts when you thumped your hand on his chest while he wasn't looking.

"Ow!" He huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "What the hell?"

"Payback," you stated serenely, quite pleased with yourself. "Also, you're it now."

With that, you danced away down the sidewalk, leaving behind the keeled over devil. Bendy felt more depressed than anything else but regained his composure and gave chase anyway, all of his sickening doubts following behind him like a shadow.

Luckily, he caught up soon enough, nearly bowling you over when he practically jumped onto your back and restrained you from running any further by wrapping his arms around your waist. You struggled to no avail. The ink demon gave a wheezy chuckle and growled, muffled by your sweatshirt, "So first you force me to walk all the way to the damn city with you when ya have a perfectly working car. Then ya make me sit down in a restaurant when I don't even eat while the entire staff wants to kill me. Next, you just stand there while your creepy ass college kid neighbor tries to find an excuse to kill me just for knowin' ya. And then ya do this," he rested his chin on your shoulder and raised an eyebrow out of your view. "May I ask what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"I'm going to report you for giving me PTSD," you replied, trying in vain to not burst out in giggles and unaware of how there was literally no space between the two of you.

"I don't think givin' someone PTSD is a reportable offense," an amused hiss came in reply and the grip around your waist loosened slightly.

You took the opportunity and twisted around so that you faced him, which was second best to escaping but you knew that that wasn't an option at the time. Bendy's face was almost uncomfortably close to yours. Most of his features were hidden from you due to the darkness inside of his hood. Your heart rate spiked. You shivered violently for no apparent reason. Then, the ink demon let go of you and stepped a pace backward. A strange feeling burned your face and made your insides drop to the ground but you didn't know what or why. Without another word, you both began walking in silent sync again. Bendy thanked the sweatshirt you gave him for shielding his deep gray face from you.

He could hardly stand the charged space between the two of you. The plan he made while you were at work floated hazily to the focus of his mind and he took the opportunity and ran with it. It was flawed, risky, and would throw you into a fit if you found out, but it was Bendy's best bet.

"Hey," he said, elbowing you.

"Hmm?" You looked up from the sidewalk with glossy eyes at Bendy.

"I've a bet to make with ya."

Your entire demeanor shifted from passive to determined. "Hit me with it."

"I bet you can't get a boyfriend by Thursday."

You choked on your determined attitude and coughed, eyes streaming. "What?"

"It's depressing even to me how lonely y'are and plus, it'll be funny."

Some of your bravado returned upon this statement. "And if I lose?"

"I just ask for a small... _favor_... in return."

You didn't like the sound of that and the accompanying grin didn't help. Still, you couldn't resist a challenge. You hesitated for a second before putting your hand out.

"Ready to make a deal?" Bendy asked, head tilted, hand outstretched.

Swallowing your doubts in favor of your stubborn outlook, you took his hand.

"Deal."

_Now, how the hell were you supposed to get a boyfriend?_

The question haunted you until Thursday afternoon when you were coming home from work. Anxiety and self-disgust whirled around your head, screaming at you for agreeing to that stupid bet in the first place.

"I know, I know," you groaned and pulled up to your driveway violently. Stomach flipping, you rested your forehead on the steering wheel, swallowing back waves of nausea. It was worse when you didn't have the faintest clue as to what Bendy's ulterior motive was.

Scarlet light pooled in your driveway and on your face, making you squint against the brightness. A voice coming from your neighbor's house made you jump and whip around to see that one college kid.

"Hey, (Y/N)!" He cried out, cheesy grin hidden by the sun in your eyes. "So, I was thinking today..." He went on a long tirade about something you didn't even know and didn't stop for a breath.

Then, tired of listening to him, you made one of the stupidest decisions in your life. "Yeah, that's great and all, but I was thinking that maybe we could go out tomorrow night?"

You couldn't even believe the words that slipped out of your mouth. A much crazier grin spread across his face and he squealed, "Really? You and me?!"

"Yeah," you called back, adding "Idiot" underneath your breath.

"So tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow."

Then, shocked and nearly disgusted by what you had done, you ran up to the front steps of your house and flung the door open after fumbling with your keys in your shaking hands. Bendy was apparently waiting for you, because he rose up from his usual place at the dining room table and slunk up to you.

"So, did you win the bet?" He said, smug, ready to initiate the next step in what he had planned.

"Actually, I did."

His heart stopped.

_That wasn't supposed to happen_.

"What."

"Remember that kid who was all weirded out by you being with me when I took you to the city? Yeah, I'm going out with him tomorrow."

"What."

This wasn't helping the revelation of what you had done. Slamming your keys and bag on the dining room table, you snapped, "What, did you think I was so helpless and antisocial I couldn't ask someone out so you could go ahead and do whatever you had planned when I lost?! I told you to stop using me!"

"But I wasn't -- I didn't mean to -- This..."  _This wasn't supposed to happen!_

Bendy's insides twisted as he stared at your seething form, eyes wide, as a wave of realization hit him.

_I'm a fucking idiot._

"No, I just..." He tried pushing away the agony that made his chest tighten and head light with an obviously fake, pained smile. "That's fine. I'm glad y'actually won. I'm happy for ya."

You narrowed your eyes, not entirely convinced. "Are you being serious or bullshitting me?"

"I'm serious," the ink demon replied and turned away from you, unable to face what he had offhandedly done as his throat constricted. "It was just fun to watch you freak out the entire week."

_I was supposed to be with you by the end of the week!_

"Oh. Okay. I guess I'll just go and... do whatever..." You backed away, noticing that something wasn't right, all while Bendy refused to look at you. 

He didn't answer or look back as you ran upstairs, nearly slipping, to lock yourself in your room, lamenting the decision you made and the return of the hollow feeling that you hadn't felt since taking Bendy to the city.

Meanwhile, Bendy sat in the unfinished part of your basement, numb with grief.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Wait, don't go! Hold on! I know we were meant to be! One chance, please stay!
> 
> "I guess you're happy without me..."


	11. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "There are no herbs that can take away memories. You just have to learn to live with them."
> 
> \- Jayfeather

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BET YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING ME BACK THIS EARLY, BITCHES!
> 
> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK, and I'm back today for chapter eleven, yay!
> 
> Are y'all still pissed at me or...?
> 
> Whatever, who cares, I totally wasn't avoiding my inbox for the past week, haha... Speaking of weeks, this is my quickest update yet! Woo!
> 
> I just did nothing but write this week because the past few days have sucked balls. Basicaly, my parents got a new dog after my old one died and I am still seething over that. Like, I don't hate the DOG, but Jesus Christ! It hasn't even been a month!
> 
> Whatever, just, everything sucks. There's also personal issues which I've shared with absolutely no one, so...
> 
> That's okay. I'm writing, everything's fine!
> 
> Please, read on and enjoy.

It was a dreary, overcast Friday morning. Traffic roared down in the streets, few birds chirped, and the atmosphere felt muted and worn out after a long and exhausting week. There was almost a melancholy feel to it, whether it be because of a small bird getting bullied out of yet another meal or a man beating his wife in sight of their children before slamming the front door closed as he left for work. Even so, the heavy air pressed down on everyone, making whatever weights that rested upon their weak shoulders feel that much heavier.

The man, engulfed with fury, started his car to begin a bout of road rage while his wife tearfully urged her children that everything was okay, she was okay, it was all going to be okay. Not even out on the main road yet, he had already cut off another driver and nearly ended up with a dent in the side of his car. He hissed profanities under his breath and swerved out to the street and sped away from the noxious home. Amazingly, the man didn't crash into anyone, but there was a bit of a scuffle with a bird who decided to swoop down beside the car. A loud screech of tires desperately searching for a grip in the asphalt sounded as the man spun the steering wheel abruptly to avoid slamming into the avian creature. Then, when the threat had passed, he hollered angrily at the now absent bird and continued on his less than pleasant drive.

In your home, you laid in bed grumpily, listening to the squeal of the man's tires as he swerved away.

 _I swear to Christ if someone ran into my mailbox again,_ you internally cursed and shuffled underneath the covers.

You really didn't feel like getting up but if your front yard looked like a monster truck show...

Mentally preparing yourself for rolling out of bed, you began slowly shuffling out from the warmth of your covers. All was going accordingly until you managed to tangle yourself in the sheets and fall off the bed while struggling. A thump rang throughout the room and your breath was knocked forcefully out of your lungs. Wheezing, you kicked off the covers while your face burned at your stupid decision. A massive headache then opened up behind your eyes at the mention of stupid decisions. It was too early for this.

Your eyes burned as you rubbed them and stumbled over to the window overlooking your front yard. For all of your worries, the empty space seemed to be untouched. So much for the anxiety you were building up. In fact, looking outside made you feel even worse, what with the muted gray sky and passive aggressive attitudes of the drivers down below. A chill swept over you when your eyes strayed over to your college neighbor's house. Not wanting to further depress yourself, you pulled your blinds closed once more and put the outside world behind you. There was plenty to look forward to today. After all, you were allowed to wear jeans to work on Friday.

The reassurance didn't help you as much as you thought it would. However comfortable it was to put on a pair of jeans after wearing skirts and nice pants for a week, it didn't soothe the dread you felt for when the time came for you to face everything you had done.

After picking out a not-so-neat outfit, you crept out of your room, each unnecessary noise sounding like a gunshot in the silence. You paused in the middle of the hallway and stared down to the end where the guest bedroom was.

Or, well, Bendy's bedroom, you supposed it was now.

The door was shut. You honestly didn't expect him to be in there, not using the room you specifically allowed him to would be just the kind of thing he would do, but you reduced the noise you were making nonetheless. Only when you slipped into the bathroom and locked yourself in the secluded space did you realize that you were holding your breath and your heart rate had spiked. It took a few tries to get you to calm down but when you were somewhat sure that you weren't in danger of exploding, you swallowed shakily and admired your face in the mirror, which was both sickly and flushed at the same time.

You swore that you weren't going to live until twenty-one.

You took your time getting ready, whether it was because you felt as if you needed some downtime or just didn't want to face whatever waited for you downstairs, you didn't know. All that you did know was that it took approximately five minutes to spread toothpaste over a toothbrush and it took nearly double that time to actually brush your teeth.

Once it finally was time for you to go downstairs, it was still damningly early in the morning and cloudy. You practically slid down the steps, bitterness making a metallic taste rise in the back of your throat like bile. Your heart once again began running a race. You couldn't decide if it was because of apprehension or some other unidentifiable and elusive feeling.

Whatever it was, you told it to fuck off.

It didn't listen.

The mainfloor seemed empty enough when you hopped off the stairs but in this household, that meant nothing. For all you knew, Bendy could have flooded the next room over. You wrinkled your nose and paced around the entire floor, keeping a good eye out for anything placed at your feet or overhead. Nothing. That was even more suspicious than finding a staircase flooded with ink. Then again, Bendy had been in an off mood for most of the week, that said mood reaching its peak last night when he refused to even meet your gaze when talking to you for whatever reason. You were about ready to slap him just to knock him out of whatever funk clouded him. It wasn't like you particularly wanted to go out on a date with your fucking neighbor, either, but why would the dumbass make a bet with you that forced you to get a boyfriend in the first place?

You sighed as another headache threatened to burst through your skull and plopped down onto your living room sofa in front of the TV. Bendy was obviously nowhere down here, so you assumed that he was just making do with his new living quarters. If the odds were in your favor, then he wouldn't have decided that making the space his meant staining everything with ink. Now that the thought came to you, it was your luck that it would most likely become a reality.

You waited and waited for some sign that the ink demon didn't just vanish into thin air but was only met with the dull hum of traffic in the background. Unable to take the roaring anymore, both internal and external, you reached for the TV remote that rested on an end table near you. Fumbling with it for a few seconds, you pointed it at the TV, which turned on with an electric pop.

And guess what was on?

Fucking Bendy.

You gave an exaggerated groan and put your head down between your knees, refusing to watch it. There was still no noise from anywhere in the house besides the static sound of Alice Angel's singing on the TV. Then, once you heard Bendy's cold and stringent voice after Alice's, you immediately turned off the television and threw the remote down angrily. If he was pissy about you having other plans for the night, then why the hell did he put you in such an awkward situation in the first place? He's been following you around long enough to know you didn't exactly have much of a social life, nor did you particularly like anyone. You briefly decided that it was because of that random favor he wanted you to do but that made even less sense of the situation. The ink demon had shown before that he was fine with blatant manipulation, hell, that was the reason why you allowed him to stay in the first place. If he hadn't made such an appeal to your damn feelings in the first place then he wouldn't even be here and you would still be utterly alone.

There was some piece of the puzzle that you were missing but your mind was so wrapped up in logic and stone cold evidence that you didn't stop to think about the shattered look in Bendy's eyes when you came home yesterday or how he allowed just the tiniest hints of affection saturate his interactions with you. You didn't even examine the flip side of things, like how your chest always seemed ready to burst or that behind every thought that drifted in and out of your head lurked a certain ink devil. Perhaps it was just your lack of understanding of how people fell in love (neither your parents nor high school taught you anything besides the fact that nearly all relationships weren't worthwhile) or just your subconscious repression of the acknowledgment that maybe, just maybe, you were falling in love with a fucking cartoon character.

After picking apart that brief moment where Bendy offhandedly made the bet, you still resurfaced from the memories with not a whiff of fact. Frustration surged underneath your skin and made your fingers curl into a fist. He just had to make a stupid dare to watch you squirm for his own sick amusement. Now you were stuck with apprehension that grew every second that ticked by, ominously leading up to the end of the day like a dark thunderhead over the horizon. You tensed as the frustration you felt washed away, leaving bitter rage in its place, the anger at Bendy's stupidity and your own. You got up from the couch, shaking, and began pacing around the house to work off some of the negative energy. It didn't help. In fact, it only fueled your thought process, making the gears in your head spin as your poor mind tried to make sense of the situation.

So, first things first, getting what you do know out of the way: you had a date tonight. Okay, fine, hopefully, you wouldn't be morally obliged to go on a second one. Bendy was acting like a fucking bipolar patient. One day he actually treated you like a human being, the next he can hardly look at you, and now he seemed to be acting like a passive-aggressive teenager by rejecting all outside contact. Fine. Age doesn't correlate with maturity. If he was going to act like a whiny little kid over nothing even if he was older than you, then who cares?

There was still that question of why he was acting like a prick. Surely if he put you in a situation to get a date, then he should expect you to fulfill it and not care what the outcome was? If you got one then he wouldn't have to deal with how "lonely" you were.

You huffed as you remembered him saying that it was depressing even for him. Like he had any room to talk, he lived his entire life in a failing animation studio.

So. There was an occult favor, Bendy's behavior, and the actual content of his little bet. A connection was there, you knew it, but you just weren't connecting the dots. You decided to start off slow and began chipping away at the first topic. For some reason, you didn't really think Bendy actually had something for you to do. Once again, he had been fine with manipulating people in the past, so it didn't make sense that he wouldn't decide to do the same thing over again. This only thrust more questions upon you and gave you a headache, which pushed you onto a less fleshed out topic. Yes, Bendy had been a little shit lately (more than usual). An unusual fog had clouded him since Monday, now that you specifically thought about it. Then last night, the shift in aura peaked. That was when you admitted to getting a date...

You frowned as the game of mental connect the dots began, well, connecting the dots.

If you pressed on, then a little more of the puzzle would be revealed. Your frown grew wider as you stopped pacing in the middle of the hallway at the foot of the stairs and stared at the clock. Bendy only got angry, or whatever he was feeling, last night. That was because you got a date. If he made a bet, then he should have expected you to get one but he knew that the chances were slim to none what with your social life.

You glared at the clock.

And he had been awfully kind to you during the week...

Before you could process the pieces and get to the bottom of what was going on, you finally realized what time it was from staring blankly at the clock. It was almost time for you to leave! You were so wrapped up in trying to decode the past week that it ate up all of your time. The conclusion that was slowly forming vanished like mist in sunshine upon the lack of time and you hurriedly made a quick breakfast, threw your things together, and hustled out the door.

Bendy only slunk out of his room to start going through your old things once he was sure you had left.

Work was awful. The later the day got, the more nervous you became, eventually making a store display toppling over when your shaky hands were trying to rearrange it.

“I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!” You cried, trembling, as your co-worker ran over to see what had happened.

They only looked at you in concern and said softly, “(Y/N), maybe you should go home early. You haven't really been in the best shape all day. Are you sure you're not sick?”

“I-I’m fine,” you lied when your stomach was actually doing cartwheels. You didn't want to go home to possibly an empty house, left with nothing but your thoughts and the end of the day creeping up on you.

“Alright. But you can always go home. We're not exactly busy right now.”

“When are we busy?” You joked halfheartedly and wrung your wrists as you made your way back to the cash register.

That did you no better. Either you spoke so softly to customers that they had to urge you to speak up or snapped at them in fiery bursts over nothing in particular.

“Don't make that face at me, I'm trying to fold these as fast as I can so you can just go throw them in your damn closet and forget about them!”

“I told you, you can't return things after thirty days without a receipt, just listen to me for once, will you!”

“W-Why can't you just w-wait…” After your attempt to yell at another customer, you broke down on top of the mound of clothes that they were trying to urge you to scan faster.

Luckily, the lady you were helping said she understood and apologized for rushing you and then patted your back. Somehow this made you feel worse than before, but you straightened back up nonetheless and gave a meek sorry for sobbing all over her merchandise while resuming your monotonous work.

Once you were done and sent a goodbye after the woman, your co-worker came back up to you, wide-eyed. “What was that?”

“Shut up, this week sucked.”

“I think you really should go home, (Y/N).”

You groaned and put your head back down on the register. “No.”

“Why do you want to stay?”

“I don't want to deal with stuff at home.”

“I still think you should go. You covered for me a while ago, so I'll hold everything down here.”

You struggled to argue. You really didn’t want to go home but at the same time…

A sigh escaped you. “Fine. Just because you won't shut the hell up.”

You got up from your seat at the register and trembled as you stretched, then blinked gratefully at your co-worker before hurrying off to the backroom to take your nametag off and grab your things. It would have been smarter to not wear it at all since you predicted many angry complaint calls for your manager later today. Just add that to the ever-growing list of things you had to worry about…

You slumped out of the break room and back to the front of the store to the exit. One foot out the door, you gave one last thankful nod to your co-worker, who returned it with a smile. Looks like covering for other people really has paid off but then again, what your co-workers thought of you was the least of your worries.

Right now you were having a mini panic attack over what the hell you would say to Bendy once you got home or what you would do if he wasn’t there again. This made for some distracted driving on your part, whether your gaze rested hazily on the flowing street lines or at the faint disc where the sun was hidden by the somber clouds. You nearly drove into the wrong lane once and had some close calls with a few trees. It was both a relief and a curse to pull up in your driveway. On one hand, you didn’t have to worry about totaling your vehicle because you were self-conscious over a stupid ink demon, and on the other, you were self-conscious over a stupid ink demon. It was a dilemma.

You waited a few moments in the car before stepping out. Your insides twisted uncomfortably due to foreboding and something else. You didn’t have the time nor patience to dwell on this (a mistake in the long run of your story) so you swung the car door open and slipped out. Luckily, your college neighbors were nowhere to be found, but the elderly ones were out sitting on their porch again.

Great.

You were hoping they finally bit the dust.

With a slam, you shut the car door, causing the couple to swing their heads and gaze over at your house like ruffled owls. You ignored their hard stares and tilted your nose up in an almost disdainful way as you swept up the front steps to your door. There would be no fumbling of keys today. You pulled out your keychain and unlocked your home all while your neighbors stared. Honestly, it was beginning to make you a bit uncomfortable, but you didn’t clue them in on this and opened the entrance swiftly yet quietly in case Bendy wasn’t downstairs. You didn’t want to let him know that you were home. Then, out of the watchful eyes of the ancient couple, you visibly relaxed and shut the door just as gingerly as you had opened it.

Bendy was nowhere in sight. Your house felt as empty as it had this morning. It chilled you down to the bone to hear it so mournfully silent, as you had gotten used to Bendy immediately crawling out of wherever he was hiding when you got home to bother you for the rest of the day. You slipped across the hardwood floor as quiet as a mouse, still not wanting to make your presence known. You made the snake-like motions all the way over to the stairs and then paused at the dreaded steps, then, after mentally preparing yourself, you took your first pace forwards.

The step immediately squealed under your weight.

"Shut up!" You hissed under your breath and gripped the banister, going up two steps at a time on the tips of your toes.

They continued creaking despite your protests as you made your way upstairs. It was a relief to finally make it to the hall upstairs but that relief was swiftly stolen at the sight of the door at the end towards the left, across from your room. Biting your lip, you padded over to the door and rested a hand on the slightly ajar side of the entrance. You took in a deep breath. You pulled open the door.

Bendy was there, of course, sitting on the bed in the middle of the room that was pushed up against the wall. His tail was curled by his side and there were what seemed to be papers scattered over the sheets.

"Why are you wearing no shirt," you asked blankly, more of a statement than a question.

The ink demon jumped, causing the thick papers to ruffle. Looking closer, you saw that they were not papers, but pictures.

"How'd ya get home so early?" Bendy gasped like he resurfaced from a deep pool, expression awkward with one eyebrow raised and pale gray dusted across his face.

"Why don't you have a shirt," you repeated, still as a statue.

Bendy's eyes flicked away from you and down to his appearance. He was wearing a pair of jeans you got him but that was about where it ended. He looked back up at you, less surprised and more serious, though his eyebrow was still cocked. "'Cause shirts are stupid."

A growl rose up in the back of your throat but you swallowed it and replied. "I used my money to buy those for you so you better fucking wear them. What are you doing?"

You stepped further into the room and caused Bendy to scramble for the photos frantically and drag them out of your view. "I asked ya something first, so you gotta answer my question." He said, half-grinning nervously as he swept up another few photos with his tail while eyeing your approach.

"I just wasn't feeling great, so the person I was working with said that I should go and take some time off and that they could work the rest of the shift." By now, you had made it to the edge of the bed, causing Bendy's nerves to start getting the best of him. "So. What are you doing with things that look like pictures?"

You leaned onto the bed.

His fingertips twitched.

You pursed your lips at the lack of a response and eyed his spade-like tail tip sway back and forth. There was a picture peeking out from underneath a pillow right beside it, yet you didn't know how you were supposed to reach for it without Bendy shoving you out of the way.

You looked back over at him and received another nervous beam. Instead of returning it, you glared at him and hauled yourself up beside him. He immediately shied away from you, much to your bewilderment, sweeping more pictures out of sight with his tail.

"What are you doing?" You repeated and leaned over him to see whatever it was that he was stashing away.

"Nothing!" He replied, still uneasy, rearing his head back as you gawked at him with a nonplussed face.

“Then what's this?” You pressed on and tried grabbing at one of the photos under him.

The ink demon pushed you off of him, more cross than baffled now. “S'nothing.”

The attempt at getting you to leave was ignored and you crawled back over him. “No, just let me see, it can't be nothing.”

“No.”

“Bendy, just let me see whatever the hell you're doing.”

“No!”

“Just let me see!” You snapped and bowled him over.

The ink demon spat and growled underneath you as you forced him down, straddled him, then pulled out all of the photos from underneath him and the pillows. He continued snarling softly and staring up at the ceiling as you got off of him and scrutinized the pictures.

“Why are these all of me or random people from my high school.”

“I went through your stuff and stole 'em all.”

“Why?” You asked, exasperated at the hoarding tendencies of the devil.

“They bother me, and I wanna know why.”

Glazed, dead eyes encased by the gloss of the photos bored into your own. Your stomach dropped at the multiple scenes depicted by the photographs. Almost all of them were from high school, shaking the multiple parties you either crashed or were invited to in a desperate attempt to find somewhere you belonged. You mouth twisted in an awkward expression.

“They bother me, too.”

The sheets ruffled as Bendy sat back up and scooted over to you, testing how close he could get before you shoved him away. You barely acknowledged his presence pressing against your side.

“I've this one, too,” he murmured in your ear, making a shiver going down your spine, heightened by how his tail had curled around your waist loosely.

A small, tattered picture was held out to you. It was a bit older than the other ones of you in high school but you could still make it out despite the obvious age to it.

You picked it up from Bendy’s hand gingerly. “You're not wearing your gloves,” you acknowledged absentmindedly, realizing this only when your fingers slipped over his palm.

“Nope. Whaddya doin' in this one?” He replied and tapped the picture you had just taken from his and were now examining.

You had a sneaking suspicion of where and when this was taken after recognizing your downcast face, frozen in time by the snapshot. “I think I was around nine or eight. I dunno, sometime then. My parents didn't really feel like taking care of a little kid over the summer so they sent me away to some camp.”

“Why didn't they wanna?”

A sigh slipped out from you. “You're asking the wrong person. Honestly, they never really did take care of me but I also don't have a horror story nightmare of getting beat or molested.” You glanced over at Bendy’s level gaze on you. “So I guess it doesn't really count. I wasn't ever abused. They just never cared. So, yeah, they just sent me to a random camp. I remember that particularly because that's when I sorta realized that they didn't care. I was a little kid, I just assumed the way my family was was the same for everyone. But, seeing all the other kids there, getting hugged and cried over by their parents and almost having to drag themselves away from them, it just made me realize that I never really had parents.”

“Oh.”

You gave a forced laugh. “Yeah, ‘Oh’ is right. So basically I came to my self-enlightenment, became a terrible child and got into stuff I shouldn't have.” You put down the photo of you as a little kid and spread out the more numerous ones of high school. “In middle school, I was a friendless little runt but then again, who wasn't in middle school. Then high school came and I immediately got into one of the worst groups ever. We were basically like the cheap drug dealer knockoff of the super popular groups who everyone loves. We were considered somewhat cool and our group was massive but fuck, everyone hated us. Honestly, we didn't even like each other.” You paused, pulled your hand away from the pictures for a moment, then pointed to one of a party where a suspicious smoke was curling out of the teenagers’ mouths. “We basically stuck together for drugs and sex. The first one was my forte. Literally the only thing that I managed to keep throughout high school was my virginity.”

There was another mirthless laugh.

“So, basically everything sucked but when I was an underclassman, I thought I was the shit. I seriously thought that I found the secret to being popular and amazing and that everyone loves me. That just made things even worse for me at home. I was so used to feeling like the shit that I started actually wondering why my parents didn't instead of just accepting it. We argued a lot but they weren't even putting effort into it, like most things. So, I ran away when I turned sixteen. Everything fell apart after that. I stayed at a friend's house but we were drifting apart. It didn't help that her mom babied me and got me anything I wanted and taught me how to drive and everything. I started alienating myself because I had a wake-up call to a lot of the things I was doing. I fell apart my junior year, and by my senior year, I was utterly alone again. I'm glad that happened, though. It opened my eyes to a lot of things and I think of I stayed under such a bad influence then I wouldn't be anywhere near where I am today. I got to start focusing on school and my old work so that once I turned eighteen and graduated, I could leave with plenty of money and be independent as soon as possible. Then I ended up here.”

“Oh,” Bendy said again and you could feel him tense up beside you.

“It's fine,” you replied, surprisingly compliant. “Even though that wasn’t the most pressing matter on my mind, it's somewhat nice to talk about it.” You glanced over at Bendy. “Even if it is with you.”

“I'm the best,” he retorted, arrogance returned upon the revelation that you weren't angry at him for going through your things.

“Shut up. So, now that I shared pretty much my entire life story, you have to answer one of my questions about you.” You jabbed his chest for more emphasis.

“I'm sure it won’t be as interesting as what you had to say.”

“Maybe. So, care to tell me what Joey does when he stays at the studio overnight?”

“Just cleans up and does stuff that didn't get done during the day. Told'cha it's nothin' interesting.” That was a blatant statement. Even if you hadn't the faintest clue of what was really going on at the studio, you could somewhat tell that the cartoon wasn't being exactly truthful.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive as a pregnancy test.”

“But that's not always…” you trailed off and rolled your eyes. “Fine. How about... “ you searched for something to ask about. There were so many questions but they all escaped your grasp when faced with the actual task of voicing them. “Do you know anything about Henry?”

Bendy, who had been leaning back onto the bed while you were thinking and pulled his tail away from your waist, straightened up immediately and said. “Not much. Why?”

“I know he used to work with Joey and that he left. I also know that he never got to meet you, either, but you probably know more than me since you know Joey better.”

“Sadly. And I think I do know more. Henry went to school with him for pretty much their entire life and, um, came up with the idea for me. They got the studio when they graduated college, but something happened and then…” The ink demon rapped his long fingers on his knee in the interlude and then proceeded cautiously. “He left.”

“Why?”

“If I knew, I'd tell ya, and it would answer a lotta things about Joey, too. So, after Henry left, Joey installed the Ink Machine,” Bendy grinned widely and made jazz hands. “Surprise! I exist.”

“How did he even make you?”

“See, (Y/N), when y'ave a depressed animator who has some weird kinks and a machine that pleases those kinks--”

“You aren't funny.”

“I'm serious. Look. I literally exist 'cause Joey stuck his dick in an ink machine.”

“You aren't funny and I'm being serious.”

“So am I,” he said, still grinning as he pulled himself to sit in front of you and put his hands on either side of your legs. He leaned forwards and his smile grew even wider. “I am dead serious.”

“No, Bendy, I'm serious, and you aren't funny.”

“Fine then, be that way,” he huffed and pulled away. “I dunno how I exist, but I do.”

“That's very informative.”

“You're welcome!”

You then argued with Bendy for most of the afternoon, the end of the day pushed far into the back of your head in light of your heart skipping and lips tingling.

It was around sunset when you finally took a quick glance at the clock.

“Oh, damn,” you said, face falling as you saw how much time had passed.

“What?” Bendy spoke up from beside you and tried putting his chin on your shoulder.

You pushed him off and glared at him but couldn’t muster any real spite. “I have to get ready.” Your voice was a low and resentful mutter.

“Wha--oh. Right.” The effects of what you had suggested showed immediately. Lip curled and tail flicking angrily, more so at the remembrance of his mistake, Bendy sneered. “Right, your date.”

“It's your fault I have to even go on one!” You snapped and slid off the bed. “I don't know what your goal was with that dumbass bet but so far it's absolute shit!”

“This isn't what I wanted,” he replied in a mellower tone while peering at you crumpled on the floor from the bed above you.

“Then what did you want?” You asked him, dumbfounded and hoping for an explanation to what you had been asking yourself the entire day.

He snorted and looked away. “Not this.”

“Bendy, if you don't tell me anything then it won't change a single thing.”

He remained silent and stared at you with cold black optics.

“Fine, then. You can keep the pictures. I'll see you later tonight, I guess,” you got up off of the floor and turned away, your chest filled with an aching burn.

The ink demon didn't speak up until you were almost out the door.

“(Y/N)?” The soft voice made you jump since you weren't expecting him to actually say anything.

“Yeah?” You choked out, swinging your head to look at the devil.

Bendy was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the bed, examining the pictures you left him with.

“Your parents didn't know what they had.” Only after he spoke did he look up at you.

The somber, stormy eyes made your insides flip. Your jaw tensed. Words hung on the top of your tongue but you couldn't force them out, no matter how hard you tried.

Bendy blinked. “I'll see ya tonight, then.” He tore his gaze away from you and fixated himself on the photos again.

You still could barely speak. “Right.” Just that single whispered word was painful.

You swallowed heavily, forced yourself to leave, and shut the door behind you, wishing that all of your problems were just as easily fixed as closing a door on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We are getting into the plot! Woo! And you're finally opening up!
> 
> See, I told you that this pictures would be important.
> 
> They create a gateway for understanding (and sex).
> 
> And did y'all really think I'd make you suffer through that date? Damn, I'm mean, obviously, but not that mean.
> 
> Your relationship with creepy college kid is just gonna be a crash and burn, honestly, but should you worry about it?
> 
> That's up to you.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	12. Exit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Look at all that which surrounds me! I'm supposed to call this home.
> 
> The darkness has become so overwhelming, so why don't I just go...
> 
> Oh, what's the use, well, maybe they're right.
> 
> What's the point of dreaming if it can never materialize?
> 
> Townsfolk are ashamed.
> 
> Why can't I live up to my family name?
> 
> Well it's not me, but you see, it's just my pedigree!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BET YOU WEREN'T EXPECTING ME BACK THIS EARLY AGAIN, BITCHES, HAHAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> *clears throat* I mean, um, welcome back to Chapter 12! So I pretty much drank like, a thousand cups of coffee last night and stayed up to finish this chapter before tomorrow.
> 
> Because you know what's tomorrow?
> 
> CHAPTER THREE! WOOT!
> 
> I am hyped and I'm also doing absolutely nothing tomorrow in honor of Chapter 3, so that's why I wanted to get this chapter out. Super quick updates! I'm doing great!
> 
> Hopefully you like this chappie better than the last, mainly 'cause, y'know, self-enlightenment and good ol' slow burn.
> 
> You'll see. Read on and enjoy!

Hazy heat lines rose from the shiny, black asphalt, shimmering over the horizon. A bright morning sun rested over the landscape, feeding it with nurturing rays of light after the past overcast day and unforgiving night. The chatter of birds filled the air in the form of a dull buzz in the background. Stray dogs panted as they roamed the distant streets and searched for scraps and maybe a drink if they were lucky. Everyone felt the heat descend upon the city like a summer blanket, ignoring the fact that it was only spring. Cars sputtered as they tried to cool their sweating owners while they howled at people jaywalking down the street and then turned on each other once their main source of fury had scurried away, metaphorical tail between their legs. 

You were among those people stuck in traffic, barking angrily just like the rest of the crowd, though your frustration was magnified by a number of factors. One, last night had sucked; two, you were finding it hard to deal with both the stomach flipping conclusion you had come to while on your... date... and self-enlightenment on a particular topic; three, Bendy was acting infuriatingly like a baby in the seat beside you.

  
So, let's recap: Your date sucked. You knew that it would the moment you fulfilled Bendy's bet but Jesus Christ. Words failed to describe what a disaster it was. For this, you would use the pretty little noun "fiasco", though even that description did the true events a disservice. It was painful to look back on it. In a nutshell, the college boy did nothing to hide the fact that he was staring at both your legs and chest and he also didn't stop to think that maybe you didn't want to hear his entire life story condensed into one long, boring hour while at dinner. You had finally gotten some quiet time at the movies but the film was awful. Then, at the end of it all, you nearly had a panic attack because you didn't know if he wanted you to come home with him or not.

  
That thought made you gasp a hasty goodbye before he could take a breath and then scurry off into your own home without him.

  
In the entirety of the hair-pulling, teeth-grinding, take-my-eye-out-with-a-fork date, one good thing came out of it: You actually had time to think. Mainly you continued your analysis of the dare that landed you in your situation in the first place but you also allowed yourself to be stripped apart mentally. After the many stomach flips, skips in your heart rate, and covert lip biting, you came to the conclusion that yes, you had fallen in love with a goddamn cartoon character, and there was a slim possibility that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same.

  
The wishful thinking made you practically melt into a puddle. You had been halfway through that terrible movie when you considered this possibility, thankfully, because no one had noticed your knees knocking and your hands shaking. That one simple thought immediately made your brain go haywire and you only remembered one frantic piece of dialogue.

  
_I wonder if he knows I like him does he have a dick can we burn down Joey Drew Studios together?_

 _  
_ Then, like an overloaded circuit, your logic was unplugged with an electric pop and you could barely comprehend anything for the rest of the night. It was a wonder that you had even caught onto the fact that the college kid was trying to get in your pants and could nope yourself out of the situation so quickly.

  
There had still been the problem of how to behave if Bendy was there when you got inside but you didn't give yourself time to worry about it. You had unlocked the door, jumped behind it swiftly, then slammed it closed, leaving the bewildered college boy alone in front of your house.

  
"You're back," a quiet voice behind you had acknowledged from the gloom.

  
You had flipped around to face the dining room and see the faint moon-washed outline of hooked horns in the darkness and glittering eyes.

  
Your heart had stopped when Bendy rose from where he was sitting and towered over you. "So tell me," a mocking grin spread across his face as he spoke, "did ya have fun?"

  
You had glared at him. "I think you can answer your own question."

  
"Really?"

  
"I wasn't required to go on more than one date, was I?"

  
"No."

  
Your shoulders loosened. "Thank god. It's your fault I even had to go on one in the first place. Why'd you make that bet, anyway?" You had added, trying to confirm your suspicions before latching onto the desperate thought that maybe he actually loved you

  
He shrugged nonchalantly at this. "It was fun to watch you squirm the entire week."

  
You hadn't been convinced. _So it wasn't because you were hoping I'd ask you instead of my neighbor?_

 _  
_ "You're stupid," you had suddenly spat, fingers curled into a fist as your mood instantly shifted.

  
The ink demon's eyebrows shot up and he had reared his head, taken aback. "Excuse me?"

  
"I hate you!" You had whined in turn, spinning around and throwing yourself onto the couch in your sunroom. "You're a fucking asshole and I hate you." These last few words had come out muffled by the sofa you had stuck your face in.

  
"That's not very nice," he sniffed at you arrogantly, somehow materializing beside you.

  
"You're not very nice," you had huffed in turn,  then rearranged your head so that you could meet Bendy's black gaze.

  
Bright white fangs lit up the room. "I'm glad you're catching on so quickly."

  
"I'm serious. What the hell were you trying to achieve by making me get a boyfriend that didn't even last a day?"

  
There had been an awkward silence at these words. Well, awkward for Bendy, frustrating for you.

  
"If you have something to say, then just say it," you snapped in a sudden violent outburst, breaking the silence and scrambling to sit up.

  
Flickering black optics stared back at you levelly. "But is it whatcha wanna hear?"

  
You hissed, "You're absolutely infuriating, you know that?"

  
"I pride myself on it," a large grin had lightened his features with pearly incisors.

  
You glowered at Bendy. _If your ulterior motive was what I think it is then you should just say it._

 _  
_ Instead of voicing your thoughts, you had continued to glare up at him, eyes wide and searching. His tail had twitched nervously at the examination and his smile slid off his face like an ink spill.

  
The words you wanted to ask had hung on the tip of your tongue but the possible outcomes held you back from saying what was on your mind. Another growling sigh had escaped you and you slapped a palm to your forehead.

  
"Whatever. Whatever!" You had exclaimed, confusing the ink demon even further, as he didn't suspect that you had found out the true meaning behind his stupid behavior. "Just let me take these dumb clothes off and I'll be back down."

  
"I told you clothes are useless. Shirts in particular," Bendy had then hooked his fingers around the loops in his jeans and grinned. "Except for these."

  
"You're also the only idiot who wears a bowtie with no shirt," you shoved him aside and stood up. "I'll be back down."

  
"Or you could just take off your clothes down here," he had scampered after you to the foot of the stairs, still smiling, though now with a hint of exhilaration at the prospect.

  
A single death glare had told him to silence himself or be annihilated.

  
Bendy had withered under your gaze slightly and croaked, "It was a joke."

  
You had given him one last exasperated look before sweeping up the stairs. Most of late last night was spent on your couch, in front of the TV, with Bendy trying to steal the remote from you to put on his show and you trying not to fall asleep on him as the darkness dragged on. Eventually, the cartoon devil had threatened to drag you up the stairs to your room when you had nearly slumped against his chest, exhausted, as he was trying to tell you something. You had then slowly but surely went up to your room, nearly overslept, and now you were stuck in traffic with the said ink demon who was now rambling beside you over your screams at another driver who was trying to pull into your lane when there wasn't enough room for a mousetail.

  
"Shut up!" You turned on Bendy, furious. "Just shut up already!"

  
"That's what I've been trying to get you to do!" He replied, near hysterics. "You don't have to attack every single person who even looks at ya!"

  
"I'm gonna run over somebody," a sigh rumbled in your throat and you crossed your arms over the steering wheel, deflating.

  
"Okay, if that calms you down, then fine, think about running over whoever you want," he said, relieved that he was no longer in danger of getting his head bit off.

  
"Then I'll imagine running over you," you said, too exhausted to sound angry, though the sideways look you gave him said everything.

  
Bendy chanced a small grin. Your stomach flipped.

  
The air was still filled with the roar of engines and howls as drivers pounced on whoever they could to blame for the traffic backup. Birds swooped overhead, casting small shadows over the vehicles. Wanting to look at anything but Bendy, you observed the avians' flight patterns, a bored expression on your features. It did nothing to assuage your anxiety nor your warm face. Fire and ice fought in your veins, making you both hot and cold at the same time. There was the apprehension of arriving at Joey Drew Studios since you were probably going to be late yet again but it was also hard to ignore Bendy staring avidly at you.

  
"Can I help you?" You asked wearily and turned your head over to the ink demon.

  
"I don't even think that lifelong therapy you're gonna pay for can help me."

  
"You think you're funny."

  
"No, I just think you should rephrase that: I know I'm funny because I am. You just have no sense of humor."

  
"If by sense of humor you mean I can't be serious for once in my life, then you're wrong."

  
"I'm always right."

  
"Are you asking for an argument?"

  
"Well, technically..." He began in a superior tone.

  
Your knuckles whitened against the steering wheel until you saw him drop the fake act of arrogance in favor of shaking with laughter at the reaction he was hoping to receive from you.

  
"I told ya that you have no sense of humor!" Bendy hooted, making your face burn in both embarrassment and the sight of his chest rising and falling in the imitation of breathing.

  
"Well, humor hasn't gotten me anywhere thus far," you growled and tapped your fingers against the wheel. "So shut up."

  
Could this traffic be any slower?

  
"Well, being a humorless ass hasn't gotten _me_ anywhere _thus far,_ " he mocked with a snicker.

  
"Shut up."

  
"Whaddya gonna do, run over me? I'm so terrified."

  
"I'm going to shoot you and then run over you."

  
Feeling overwhelmingly hot suddenly, you began rolling down the windows, until Bendy shrieked and slumped down into his seat.

  
"Are you trying to show me off to everyone?" He asked angrily, eyes wide and tail trembling.

  
The tables had turned and you pounced at the opportunity. "Right, sorry, you're having a bad hair day."

  
"You know that's not what I meant. And I always look great. You're the one who has bad hair days."

  
"You don't even have hair so you can't understand! You have fucking horns made out of ink, there's nothing to take care of!"

  
Both of you continued bickering as the traffic inched forward slowly but surely. It was a wonder your tires hadn't melted on the asphalt yet. Arguing with Bendy had burnt most of your time (and energy) and you didn't have time to plan what you were going to say to Joey nor did you have any way to smuggle Bendy into the workshop. The street where you usually parked was littered with cars still stuck in the middle of the road. You glowered at them and pulled into the parking lot, nearly got cut off, and then shouted at the asshole who tried blocking you off from the parking lot. Then, still seething, you pulled aggressively into a parking space, jolting the entire car. Bendy squealed even higher than the brakes when you did this. Taken aback, you threw him an awkward sideways look.

  
"What?" He said smoothly and stared at his reflection in your mirrors, acting as if nothing had happened.

  
You rolled your eyes at his denial and shifted the gear to park. "Nothing. We're late again, so hopefully Joey won't fire me, and there's a lot of traffic out there so you absolutely need to listen to me for once." A meaningful look was cast at the ink demon who had already begun scowling. "Don't act like an idiot, keep out of sight in the parking lot and please don't do anything to piss Joey off when we get there."

  
"Fine," he grumbled and started tugging at the locked door.

  
With a disdainful sneer, you opened the door. Bendy promptly fell out.

  
"Goddammit, people can see you!" You hissed, more so in fear that someone would see the ink demon than anger at his stupidity.

  
There was now a glittering black ink puddle on the heated asphalt. You sighed and slipped out of your door, then began walking up to the studio as casually as possible with your shadow being an odd jet-black shade. There weren't as many cars in the lot as usual and you hoped that other people were late because of the ungodly amount of traffic so that Joey would let you off the hook. Your shoes clacked ominously against the pavement, eerie even with the muted roar of the streets in the background. It seemed like the workshop's mournful vibes were projected onto anything associated with it. You slumped your shoulders at this as if you could feel its cold aura pressing down on you. Once again, you wondered how Bendy could have dealt with those conditions for twenty years straight, even without your knowledge of the rituals that went on when night rested upon the workshop. If it were you, then you would have gone insane by now. However, when you thought of it, it wasn't like Bendy had walked away from the monotonous life unscathed. He still hadn't the faintest clue as to how to be a human being.

  
You felt a sudden and unexpected rush of warmth towards the black puddle hidden in your shadow. Then, almost revolted with yourself, you pushed it away, telling yourself that just because you had accidentally allowed yourself to sorta kinda fall in love with him doesn't mean you have to act upon that feeling.

  
He was a literal cartoon devil.

  
You were just some intern who was dealt the bad hand as far as taste in guys goes.

  
You remembered all of the sleepless nights you had when first working at the studio, the suffocating misery of having all of your work being torn apart before your eyes by an ink demon with a Napoleon complex and the embarassment of getting soaked in ink whenever he dumped bottles out over your head. It almost made you feel guilty about how you felt now. The musty air of the workshop didn't help your emotions and neither did Bendy reforming practically on your ass.

  
"Jesus Christ!" You exclaimed in a squeaky voice and whipped around on the ink demon.

  
"Actually, the name's Bendy," he replied sourly, bitterness dripping off of every syllable. "But thanks anyway."

  
You raised an eyebrow at his humorless tone which was so unlike him with remarks such as that but you merely glossed over the account and said, "It's just an expression. Hey, um, could you, y'know, do the same thing you did last time I was late? 'Cause, uh, that actually sorta helped last time, and..."

You trailed off as the stony look on Bendy's face burst into one of sadistic amusement. "Oh, so you're not gonna accuse me manipulation, are you? Or taking advantage? Call me crazy, but I can distinctly recall some 18-year-old volunteer telling me off for those things... Not sure who it was, though, give me a minute..." He paused in fake thought and bit on his forked tongue for emphasis and to hide his stupid smile, all while casting covert glances at you to witness your reaction.

You shoved his side angrily, though he barely stumbled at the push and laughed. "Alright, fine, but you really do owe me after this."

  
"Whatever," you sighed and struggled with the urge to grin equally as stupid at him. "As long as it's not something horrible."

  
Bendy hesitated but his logic sputtered and failed while his nonexistent heart ran away with the opportunity. He had screwed up once, he couldn't do it again.

  
Trying to hide his growing beam and flushed face, he replied, "Well, it depends on what your idea of horrible is--"

  
"(Y/N)!" A shout coming from down the hall made the two of you jump apart like you were shocked. It was only then did you realize how you were eagerly leaning forwards toward Bendy while he spoke, heart racing...

  
Joey appeared in the entrance room with you and your bubble was immediately burst and you fell down, down, down. Beside you, you could feel the seething resentment and frustration with the head animator rolling off of Bendy in waves.

  
"(Y/N), you're here!" said Drew, looking enormously relieved with the lines of age on his face softening. "Thank the gods. Traffic is absolutely horrible today. I heard it's because they're doing road work further in the city. Norman and Susie haven't even arrived yet!"

  
You too felt much more relaxed at this but for entirely different reasons. It was a wonderful feeling to know that you weren't alone or in trouble for your actions. This weight off your shoulders was punctuated by Bendy's steadily rising fury, however. Once again nervous because of this, you stuttered back breathlessly, "Y-Yeah, it was pretty b-bad out there but it was n-no big deal. I guess it didn't help th-that my car is on its last strings."

  
A high and nervous giggle that didn't seem to belong to you escaped your lips. Bendy suppressed a wince.

  
The sudden change in expression made Joey Drew then turn to the furious devil. "Bendy. What are you doing over here?"

  
"I was just about to get around to tellin' (Y/N) a lot of other people were late, too, like what you said," Bendy answered tersely with his sharp teeth gritted.

  
The animator's expression was unreadable. "That's fine. I'm glad you're at least somewhat getting along now. But right now (Y/N) should get to her office and unwind after that traffic, and Bendy, I'd like you to follow me to my office as well."

That was an obvious dismissal to you. You dipped your head, cast Bendy's hard features one last wide-eyed look, then hurried off down the hall to your workspace while muttering a disappointed goodbye. After you had left, Joey refocused his attention to the ink demon, beckoned him to follow, then set off to his own office. Bendy followed grudgingly, feet dragging on the creaky hardwood floor.

"Pick up your feet when you walk," Drew advised absentmindedly and the ink demon scowled at the back of his head.

Simply out of spite, Bendy started walking with over-exaggerated and loud footfalls while internally daring his creator to point him out in this. The animator's face tightened but he said nothing, much to the ink demon's pleasure. This one small act of defiance did nothing to ease the sorrow and hatred bubbling up underneath Bendy's inky skin, however, magnified by the somber atmosphere. It was hard to think about how this has been his only life for years until he made the decision to tag along home with you one fateful day. He was quite glad that he did. It was hard to think that he was supposed to call this home. Being honest, your house felt more like a home to him than the overwhelmingly dark studio ever did, even if he had only been there for a couple of weeks. It was probably just because of the fact that you were there and you even seemed to be greatly warming up to him, the cartoon mused, then shook the preposterous thought away and continued focusing his attention on his carefully calculated footsteps.

Along the way, Bendy saw a limited number of people. He kept half an eye out for Boris and Alice but neither of them seemed to be lurking about. The ink demon blankly wondered why this was but the thought slipped away as easily as it had come. By now, his sole purpose was to piss Joey Drew off as much as possible, with great success thus far. He knew that he would pay in drops of ink later that night but in that moment with a tight-lipped Joey and silently chortling Bendy, everything was perfect. The head animator's office approached much too soon for the devil's liking. He wanted more time to plan his convenient exit.

Joey Drew opened the door and stood aside to allow Bendy in first. The ink demon fixated a glare on the crazy cultist, strutted in, and stood right smack dab in the middle of the room in front of the desk. A quiet thump rang out when the door was once again shut and the sound of Joey's soft footsteps barely reached the devil as he made a wide berth around him to his desk.

  
The animator sat down, then pointed a seat out in front of him for Bendy. He unwillingly slumped into the chair and let out a huff.

"I'm a bit concerned about your attitude on the role you have to play," Drew began pleasantly although what he had to say was about nothing pleasant at all.

"Oh, god, not this bull again," Bendy groaned and stuck his horned head between his knees.

The scene looked almost identical to when you were called down to the principal's office all those times during high school.

A withering look of disapproval rested upon the ink demon. "Yes, this 'bull' again," Joey retorted sharply. "And I'm going to continue to reiterate myself until you get the point. You need to stop being so inflexible and step up with your responsibility."

"Responsibility as the fake second coming? Yeah, right, sure, you lying bastard."

  
The man's featured twisted uglily and he snapped in harsh tones. "It's not fake, I never lied to you, and you're the one who won't open your eyes and see the truth!"

  
"I'm not going to be a stupid little cover girl for your equally stupid cult, you are a lying bastard, and you're the one who's blind with your dumbass dissections and Bible bullshit!"

  
"But it's not stupid," came the breathless and manic reply. "You're not like us. You're different. You're special. Don't you want to be special? You're a greater being. Immortality, Bendy. You and I must guide us to the light."

  
"You're fucking insane," Bendy insisted in a laughing tone when there was nothing at all funny with the warped sense of grandeur coming from the long gone animator. "You are off your damn rocker. I'm out."

He immediately rose from the chair without being dismissed, mirthless hooting permeating the ink-stained walls. Joey continued giving him the same crazed expression as he backed away from the insane animator.

"You'll see. I'm doing this all for you, Bendy. I'm staying here every Saturday night."

  
"Why don't I just go?" The ink demon gasped, exited the room, and then bolted as far away from Joey, the cult, and his destiny as possible.

  
It wasn't until around lunchtime when Bendy finally reemerged from his dark hiding place. He was still in shock from what Joey had tried forcing him into accepting yet again and he really didn't feel like encountering him, Sammy, or anyone else for that matter. Lost in thought, the ink demon found himself gravitating to your small nook at the end of the hallway like he did so many times before. The ache in his chest from the morning returned, noticeably more painful than before when it was masked by his feud with Joey.

  
Hoping that seeing you would temporarily alleviate the agony, he stepped into your workspace, urging you to turn around and glower at him like you always did before somewhat getting used to his presence. Bendy's wishes immediately crashed when he saw you passed out on your desk, pens scattered across the floor. The ink demon crossed his arms and flicked his tail in annoyance that you had fallen asleep and left him with nothing to do. Then, his brief and mild grievance faded when a brilliant idea flashed to the forefront of his mind.

  
The cartoon demon immediately grinned and spun on one heel to leave your office in search for a particular item.

  
See, Bendy remembered catching a glimpse of a roll of tape in a supply closet not too long ago.

  
An hour or so passed by. You awoke slowly and honestly were quite disoriented when you reopened your eyes. Even the dim light of the workshop hurt your sensitive optics. You blinked blankly, eyelids sticky with sleep. You tried pulling a sloth-like arm up to rub the crust away but found that your limb wasn't responding to your calls. Your sluggish mind couldn't comprehend why it wasn't answering. You tried picking up your arms a few more times. Still, nothing. Now waking up slightly, you tugged a few more times and found that it wasn't your body's response that was the problem: it was a barrier that was keeping you from doing so. You looked down.

  
" _Beeendyyyyyyyyyy_ _!_ _"_ You shrieked and thrashed in the tape that bound you to the chair.

  
A few seconds later, the perpetrator had arrived in your workspace. The only way you could tell was by the loud guffaws that followed his entrance.

  
Bendy struggled to speak to you in between hoots of laughter. "H-Hey, you sh-should s-s-say my name like th-that again," he heaved, trying and failing to breathe.

  
"Fuck you!" You hollered, face burning and already sore from struggling against your sticky prison. "Fuck you and fuck everything, _get_ _me_ _the_ _hell_ _out_ _of_ _this_ _!"_

 _  
_ "I mean, I dunno..." He replied, all grin, no sense of urgency.

  
Thrashing some more at his response, you managed to move the chair a tiny bit, which was quite an achievement until the seat began tilting back ominously.

"Dammit," you whispered as you began your slow descent backward.

Before you could reach the ground, a steadying hand shot out and Bendy gripped the back of your chair and pushed you back up.

  
"You're not supposed to fall," he scoffed, leaning over the back of your seat to look at you.

  
Your head was tilted all the way back as you glared up at his beaming face. "Fuck you."

  
"I think you're a bit preoccupied right now, (Y/N)," he purred, tail swishing.

  
"Get me the hell out, you asshole!"

  
"I really don't think that's the proper way to ask for things."

  
A menacing hiss made his half-lidded eyes and smile slide off of his face. ”Alright, fine, okay, you're no fun, it was a joke. Stop moving so much, too, I can't help ya if you're actin' like a fish outta water. "

  
You watched warily as Bendy kneeled down beside you and started peeling off the tape. It was a slow process. Too slow, in fact.

  
"Bendy, if you're just gonna fuck with me when more then I suggest you leave," you snapped drily, feeling helpless between the lack of movement and your hot face.

  
"Sorry," came the not-so sorry reply and Bendy had to conceal another grin as he began ripping apart the tape.

  
When you were loose enough, you pulled your arms free, and tore through the tape with much more haste than the ink demon.

  
_I_ _wonder_ _if_ _I_ _sh_ _ _ould__ _tell_ _him_ _to_ _start_ _running_ _,_ you snarled internally while picking off the last pieces of tape, then decided against it. He didn't give you a heads-up before taping you to the chair, now did he?

  
When all of the disgustingly sticky tape pieces were free from your body, you sat idly in your seat to lull the devil into a false sense of security. It worked, seeing as he visibly relaxed and began grinning. Then, without a warning, you grabbed him by his bowtie and stuck your face in his.

  
"What the actual _fuck_ _,_ Bendy?" You hissed in a dangerously low voice at him.

  
The ink demon gave an apprehensive, broken grin. "It was definitely an accident."

  
"How do you _accidentally_ tape someone to their seat?!"

  
"That is a very good question."

  
"No, really?" Foreseeing that you wouldn't get any straight answer from the cartoon, you let go of his bowtie, and he pulled away from you while gripping his neck.

  
"Were you trying to choke me?"

  
"I'm just sorry it didn't work."

  
A simple laugh answered your unamused grunt of a response and Bendy nudged your side. "Great, you failed, now move over so I can help you not fail at drawing."

  
"I wouldn't fail without your help," you grumbled and rubbed your eyes in exhaustion. "And you can get your own spot."

  
You moved over for him and let him help you anyway.

  
The end of the day came rather quickly. Your mood had greatly improved by then, though, between both not being completely worn out and Bendy trying to get you to understand the finer concepts of animation without leaving you with the desired effect.

  
You interrupted his lesson in the form if a long stretch and mutter, "I'm done for today, Bendy, it's late and I wanna go home."

  
He abruptly halted his speech with a simple disconcerted "Oh."

  
"Yeah, I should probably hand these in," you stacked up the animations into a neat pile. "You can wait here while I go give these to Joey."

  
Bendy inwardly cringed at the mention of your boss. "Right."

  
"I'll be right back, then...?" Your statement sounded more like a question as you slid off the chair you shared with the ink demon.

  
Barely anytime time had passed to him from when you left to when you came back. He was still extremely disconcerted about how he lost track of the time. When you returned from your swift journey, you found Bendy pacing restlessly in the small corner.

  
"Um, are you coming with me tonight?" You asked, shier than usual as you stared at the extremely interesting floor.

  
"What? Oh, no. Sorry," he tacked onto the end and genuinely meant it this time. "I don't always wanna be missing at night, y'know?"

  
"Oh. Right," you responded in a murmur to the floor instead of the ink demon who was looking at you somewhat expectantly.

  
"Well, I'll see ya tomorrow, then," somewhat cautious about how he was acting, Bendy shuffled towards you tentatively.

It was at that moment you stopped caring about, well, everything. You stretched up onto the tips of your toes and threw your arms around his neck.

"See you, too."

  
The ink demon was as stiff as a board for a few heart-stopping moments. Then, after what felt like a lifetime yet was only a second, he let go of his stress and curled his lanky arms around you.

  
"See ya," he repeated softly, his breath strangely cool against your neck.

  
Getting goosebumps from the feeling, you let go before you shivered against him, then casting one last nervous smile at the devil, you bounced away down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

  
Bendy's shoulders still tingled where you held him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm screaming internally so don't worry if I seem a little too mellow. Yes, you aren't an idiot, the only stupid shit here is Bendy.
> 
> Honestly, just grow a pair and ask, please, and make my life a bit easier. But will he?
> 
> No.
> 
> Because I'm an asshole and plot.
> 
> Not much to say besides I hope you enjoyed, comment, leave a kudos, and CHAPTER THREE!
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	13. Blame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't blame yourself, 'cause you tried as hard as hell with the hand you were dealt. Don't blame, get on your feet, enough "Poor me!" If you've got time to bitch and whine then there's still time to start again.
> 
> This time you're free.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm here today with unlucky Chapter 13 of Aha!, yay! So, first things first:
> 
> DID YOU SEE CHAPTER THREE? OH MY GOD.
> 
> OH.
> 
> MY.
> 
> GOD.
> 
> SUSIE IS LITERALLY ALICE AND I'M PRETTY SURE JOEY IS BENDY AND AND AND--
> 
> I am definitely including all of Chapter Three in this fic. If I'm being honest, I was sorta kinda planning for Alice to go crazy anyway, but now I actually know HOW to make her go insane! Isn't that great?
> 
> This chapter is pretty much me being an asshole tease, so I won't include any mention of Chapter Three until the next chapter but most of the stuff that was added will go down in Chapter 15.
> 
> You know what happened to Susie?
> 
> You know how I'm kinda obvious about how I ship Alice and Susie?
> 
> *evil laugh* Yeah. It's gonna be great.
> 
> So, enjoy this infuriating chapter, leave a comment, kudos, and bookmark for support, and read on!

Saturday night and Sunday morning passed by without much events besides stifling loneliness. Night once more ruled the land and faint moonlight gave a pale silver tinge to the inhabitants down below. A small bird sat hunched in a hedge, trying to get comfortable with the prickly branches stabbing at it from awkward angles. It would have gotten a better resting place of it weren't for the much larger populations taking the best places, bullying other birds out of their nests and usual sleeping nooks so they could have it all. There was nothing the little avian could do about it, however. It could just desperately hope that no predators would find it and wait for the sun to rise over the horizon. The prayers it sent went unheard. Unbeknownst to the bird, a stray cat had begun stalking it, remaining downwind to pass by undetected. Thus far, the tabby's plan was working. The cat's lean muscles rippled underneath its ragged pelt, showing that despite its haggard appearance, it still had much experience with the homeless lifestyle. Half-healed wounds, tattered ears, and scars where its fur would never grow back displayed just how tough it was to be a stray. A split ear twitched. By now, the tabby cat was nearly on top of the bird, waiting for the perfect chance to strike. It tensed its muscles and...

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suddenly, the wind shifted, blowing the cat's scent towards the small, uncomfortable bird with full force. It immediately perked up, let out a loud warning call, and fluttered away frantically. The cat yowled angrily and flung itself through the bush in an attempt to catch the fleeing meal. It fell through the hedge to the other side, resurfacing with nothing but a few thorns in its pelt and an empty belly for all its efforts.

You and Bendy stared at the cat as it appeared. The feline hissed angrily at your gawking gazes, then settled down into the grass and began grooming itself with no regards to your property.

Before the cat had interrupted, you and Bendy were arguing about something or other while laying in your yard. What else would you be doing? Eventually, the ink demon had gotten sick of trying to prove you wrong about whatever you were insisting upon and to prove that he was done talking, he had given a dramatic sigh and rolled on top of you.

"What the hell, Bendy?!" You had hissed at him and tried pushing the dead weight off of you.

"I'm sorry, Bendy isn't here right now," he had said back, voice muffled by your shirt.

"Get the fuck off of me!"

You had then scuffled underneath him until the relieving distraction of the stray cat bursting through your elderly neighbor's hedge came. Bendy released some of his weight from you but still refused to get up.

You gritted your teeth and continued looking over at the tabby cat.

"Isn't that the same one I told you to not throw stuff at?" You asked, frowning as you vaguely recognized the markings over its ratty pelt.

"I dunno," he said from on top of you and gazed at the stray, frozen.

"It's back for revenge," you looked back up at Bendy and managed to pull one of your hands free from his grip on your wrists to tug on his bowtie.

The ink demon slowly let go of you and crawled back onto the grass, still staring at the cat.

"Don't do it," you warned him halfheartedly, sitting up and rubbing your tingling wrists.

The devil ignored you and hovered near the cat, waiting to strike. You snorted and began picking at the grass. This wasn't going to end well.

As if on cue, a shriek from the cat sounded, then was drowned by Bendy yelling and then a loud spit. You rolled your eyes and continued to keep your gaze away from the battle being fought at the edge of your yard.

Bendy cried out, "Fuck!" Then a long, low, caterwaul came from the cat.

You thought that if you rolled your eyes any harder, they would fall out of your head.

After listening to Bendy screaming as the cat started chasing him through the yard for a few minutes, you finally whipped your head around to where he had fallen behind you and snapped, "I told you that you don't throw stuff at living things!"

"Help me?" He wheezed, stretching a hand out while the cat screeched and attacked his tail.

You gritted your teeth, stood up, and cautiously approached his attacker. It had now decided that the ink demon's face was a better target. Bendy squealed and tried shielding his head with his hands. With a sigh, you screwed up your face and swiftly pulled the howling tabby off of the devil. It spat furiously in your arms and you squeaked as it lashed its unsheathed claws out at you, then dropped it at your feet. A thump sounded when it fell and the cat snarled at you and Bendy one last before scrambling back into the hedge, out of sight.

Once it was gone, you turned and glared daggers at Bendy. He gave a hesitant smile, face dark gray, then lowered his head when he saw your cold expression.

"Come on, we're going inside," you growled wearily and pulled him by his gloved hand.

The cartoon took your support gratefully and stood up, leaving a Bendy-sized divot in the grass where he had fallen. Still gripping the ink demon's hand, you eyed the spot blankly and tugged him across the yard back into your home. Faint hissing came from him the entire way.

"Will you stop that?" You whispered furiously and slid your backdoor open, pulling the cartoon in.

"I'm not doing anything," Bendy replied, expression masked by shadows when you had closed the door behind you.

You dropped his hand. "Yeah, you are. I told you that you shouldn't do that to living things!"

"It was fun," he muttered in a resentful mutter, shuffling his feet.

The lights flickered on with a flick of a switch and illuminated his pale face. Black ink dripped down his cheek, stark in contrast to his snow-white face.

"Did it scratch you?" You asked, not sure whether to laugh, yell at him, or be concerned.

"What?" He replied and raised a hand up to his cheek. "Oh. Yeah. Yeah, I guess it did. It's fine though, just a dumb scratch."

"You wouldn't have gotten it if you had listened to me!" Your voice was a mixture of exasperation and laughter. "Do you... need... something for it?"

"No."

You cocked your head. "But... But don't you feel pain?"

"Sadly."

"So don't you want me to put something on it?"

"No."

"But you're bleeding," you stated softly and without thinking, you slowly reached a hand up to his face.

"(Y/N), it was just a _cat_ ," he said a tad impatiently and held your wrist before you could touch his cheek. "Who cares if it hurts, it's just a scratch."

Dropping your wrist, Bendy turned away and began shuffling aimlessly through the kitchen.

The words " _I_ care" stuck in your throat, so you just hurried after the ink demon and cut off his path.

"What?" He asked, eyes somewhat drooping and voice growing increasingly impatient with you.

"Why are you just walking away?" You asked, feeling your heart beat madly in your chest.

"Because you're being boring," he said and showed a lazy grin.

In an attempt to compensate for the way your stomach dropped, your response came out as an aggressive growl. "No, you're just trying to be a hardass."

"Really," he said in a bored manner, not even looking at you while talking.

"If you think I'm being boring then we can do something."

"Like?"

"Um... Did you actually want to cook something that one day?"

Bendy's interest piqued but he still refrained from jumping at the idea. "Aren't y'afraid of me burning down your house?"

"I mean, as long as I'm helping, then I can't really blame just you for making me homeless."

"Mmm, fine," he answered with his lazy grin still plastered over his face, perking up slightly and towering over you.

It was a battle to keep your legs from shaking. You didn't realize you had been backing away towards the counter until your backside bumped up against it. The chill from the smooth surface seeped through your clothes to your skin, giving you the same sensation of being hot and cold at the same time. Your brain short-circuited.

Bendy tilting his head at you with glittering black optics didn't help.

"J-Just pick out whatever you want from the pantry," you managed to gasp out.

A blink was given in return and the foreboding presence pressing you against the counter disappeared. Once Bendy was faced away from you while tearing apart the contents of your pantry, you peeled yourself off of the counter and nearly collapsed, shivering violently. If work and the stress didn't kill you first, then these sick little mind games that the devil was playing with you would. At this point, you would have much rather he either admit to it all being a joke and remove himself entirely from your life or pinning you against the counter and--

You short-circuited again and practically melted to the floor.

_A fucking cartoon character._

A shudder wracked your body and you tore your gaze away from Bendy demolishing your cupboards. There was no telling how much time had passed before he snuck up behind you, box in hands, and said, "I found something."

Trying not to shake or look surprised by his sudden appearance, you took the box from him gingerly and examined it.

"Muffins? You're seriously hellbent on making these, aren't you," you acknowledged without looking at the ink demon, instead skimming over the directions on the back.

"I thought it would be funny."

"Yeah. It's completely hilarious." A stormy mask flickered up to meet Bendy's gaze. He laughed. You grimaced. "Why do you want to make these when you don't eat, anyway?"

His skinny shoulders went up in a shrug. "I dunno. Nothing better to do? Plus, it might be fun."

"I guess that's a good enough reason. But before we start..." Your eyes now twinkled when you looked up at him. "You have to clean your scratch."

"S'not like I'm gonna be usin' my face to mix the damn stuff," he growled impatiently and instinctively raised a hand up to his cheek, where the ink had stopped oozing and had formed the equivalent of a scab.

You replied, exasperated, "Just wipe off the rest of the ink! If you find it so hard to clean it up just a little bit then I can!" You once again tried to slip a hand against his cheek and were once again stopped by Bendy.

"I can do it myself!" He said, voice higher than usual and tail flicking nervously. "If it matters so much to you, then I can just..." The devil trailed off and walked over to the sink, facing away from you. "Y'act like it's the end of the world..."

You pursed your lips at him and began reading the directions in more depth to gain a better understanding of what the hell you were supposed to be doing. After a few moments of you poring over the instructions, Bendy stomped back over to you and hissed, "Better?"

Only a quick glance at the cartoon's face could be spared but luckily, it told you all you needed to know. The deep black lines scored across his face had been reduced to much fainter scratches and inky water glistened over his mildly annoyed features.

You replied distractedly, "Yeah, yeah, that's fine..." Then turned back to the box but for some reason, your attention had run away and it was hard to not think of the ink demon's scowl.

Bendy hovered behind you and asked, "So, what're we doing?"

"You're gonna be my delivery boy. Get me two eggs, vegetable oil, and a cup of water, but don't be an idiot and try to carry it all at once."

He muttered something about you being bossy and how this was supposed to be fun and that he was _not_ a delivery boy, he was a demon and should be treated with respect, but the cartoon devil went ahead and fetched you everything you had asked for anyway. However, he didn't listen to what you told him about not being an idiot and dropped three eggs and spilled an entire cup of water on the floor before bringing everything to you.

"Bendy!" You had sighed loudly in increasing frequency at his mistakes but immediately ceased this when he had snapped back while cleaning up yet another egg.

"Yeah, scream my name just a little bit louder, (Y/N)."

Bendy then proceeded to stand up and spill the entire bag of muffin mix across the counter after throwing away the remains of the egg he had dropped. After many messes, curses, and Bendy trying to pin you against the counter to amuse himself with your discomfort, you finally threw the damn things in the oven.

"Those are gonna turn out terrible," you noted in a breathy tone, still winded from the ink demon's hips sliding against yours even if it was just him being an idiot.

"I know," he replied in a somewhat self-satisfied tone. "But it was fun."

"You're an ass," you huffed and crossed your arms while your face continued burning.

This time a mad grin accompanied his repeated reply. "I know."

"I hate you."

"Don't worry," he began cheekily, beam still plastered over his pale face as his voice dropped to a growl. "The feeling's mutual."

Sometimes you wondered if Bendy knew exactly how your feelings to him would have turned out those few weeks ago when he had fatefully decided to accompany you home. Then again, he seemed completely oblivious to the fact at the moment besides the usual bout of teasing for his pure and simple amusement. You sighed wearily, making him tilt his horned head.

"Am I really that boring?" The ink demon joked, though his tail had begun showing the signs of the nervous tick you had learned to recognize

"No, you're just an ass."

"Don'tcha have any other descriptive words for me?"

"Bitch."

This only received a laugh in turn, giving you plenty of reason to start bickering with Bendy. Most of your growls were rebutted with snorts and heart-stopping grins and you could feel yourself sinking deeper and deeper into the hole you dug yourself into with each flash of long, white incisors he gave you. Your face became dangerously close to the devil's and your chest was ready to burst. You didn't realize that you had stopped spitting venom at him long ago and that his head was tilted towards yours almost expectantly. A strange smell almost like ice swept over you, jumbling your senses and giving you a headache. Your hands slowly went up to hook the loops in Bendy's jeans and--

A sudden blaring noise made you squeal and rear your head and Bendy stumbled backward, black eyes wide.

"What the hell?!" He hissed, mouth twisted, leaning back on the counter opposite from you for support.

"It's the oven," you said shakily and blinked as if you had stepped out into a pool of sunlight from a pitch black room, then turned to open the oven and pull the forgotten muffins out.

They didn't look too pretty but you weren't about to waste food. Ignoring Bendy's cold gaze boring through you, you began picking them out of the trays. He finally scooted over to help you after observing for a few heartbeats. You didn't acknowledge the blood roaring in your ears and how your heart was screaming at you to just grab the stupid demon by his bowtie and press your lips against his hungrily.

"It's better if ya do it like this," a voice said in your ear and you squeaked and stiffened while looking over at Bendy shyly.

The ink demon had his tray flipped upside down and was shaking it. His eyes fixated on yours, giving you the feeling of ice cubes sliding down your back. "I'd bang it against the counter, but I didn't think you would thank me for that idea."

"You're right about me not particularly wanting you smashing my counters in," you replied much more meekly than normal and mimicked his strategy. A few muffins tumbled out. You stared at them, feeling nauseous.

Apparently, some of your internal conflict appeared on your face because Bendy leaned over again and murmured, "Are you okay?"

Your heart stopped for what seemed to be the millionth time that night. "Always. Are you?"

The two of you then worked in awkward silence until all of the muffins had tumbled out of their trays. In an attempt to somewhat brighten up the mood, you took a bite of one, then after chewing thoughtfully for a couple of seconds, you stuck the leftovers in Bendy's face.

"Mmph!" He tried speaking but failed, expression twisted in surprise.

You laughed at his reaction but the initial amusement quickly faded when he spat out the muffin onto your floor.

"Ew!" You exclaimed and leaped away from the remains of the food, then looked back at Bendy incredulously once you were sure you were no longer in danger. "What the hell?"

"I thought I told you; I don't eat!" He responded to your semi-disgusted face and smacked his lips to get rid of the taste of the food. The sight of his thin, forked tongue made you shiver. "I'm the one who's supposed to be saying what the hell, not you."

The tiniest hint of mirth still tainted your tone. "Well, you didn't have to do that on my floor."

"And you didn't have to choke me to death," the cartoon retorted and continued spitting.

"Stop!" You said, trying not to giggle. "You're gonna have to clean that up before we go upstairs."

"It's your fault I even made a mess," he pointed out in a mutter but left you with the remains of the food on the floor, getting paper towels and wipes to clean it up. At this rate, your entire barrage of cleaning supplies would be exhausted by the ink demon.

While Bendy was picking up the pastry he had spat out in revulsion, you searched for a container to save the rest of the muffins in so you could have a chance to eat them later. It was a shame that Bendy didn't eat, yet you weren't sure if he refused to because there was no point to it for him or if he was just incapable of consuming anything. You finished tidying up before the ink demon, so you left him in the kitchen to bound up the stairs.

"Hey!" He called after you and quickly threw everything away, then scrambled up the steps after you.

A small huff came from him as he slipped over his tail and fell. Trying not to snicker, you scampered further away, leaving the fallen demon behind. The stairs thumped as he struggled to regain his footing and continue hopping up. By the time Bendy had finally reached the top of the stairs, you were almost about to close the door to your room and prepare for bed.

"Hey! Wait!" He nearly tripped over himself again when he reached the hall upstairs and barely managed to support himself using the edge of the banister.

You paused in the middle of shutting your door and watched him heave for the air he didn't need, wary of what he was going to say.

"I formally invite you into my room," he offered almost breathlessly, grinning and straightening his bowtie as he leaned against your doorframe.

The scratch marks on his face were stretched by his wide beam and his eyes flickered with that oh-so-familiar troublemaking gleam. You studied his marred features for a few moments, chewing on your bottom lip, then spoke up, "So, a formal invite?"

"Yup."

"What's the difference between that and a normal invite?"

"This one is formal."

"Amazingly enough, I was able to infer that for myself. Do I have to wear a super fancy dress or something or...?"

"Well, personally, my idea of formal is wearing nothing at all, so--"

You shot the ink demon a cold deadpan look at this and began closing the door on him. He jumped and said, "I'm kidding, I'm kidding, I swear, it was just a joke! I'm serious, do you want to or not?"

Fingertips rapped against your door. A spade tail-tip flicked. Even though he was trying to hide it, Bendy really did want to hear your answer and the wait was killing him.

You picked up a faint understanding of this and replied, "Fine, I guess I'll go to bed later."

A heart-stopping smile was shot at you, making your knees knock again much to your dismay. Even the devil's child-like response didn't ease your butterflies.

"Great! Now I won't be bored as hell and all alone. Y'know, sleep is really stupid..." While you followed the ink demon across the hall, he gave you well thought out list of all the reasons why humans would be better off without sleep.

"Not taking into account that we sorta need sleep to survive," you said in between two of his points while he paused to take in a breath.

"It's just hypothetical," he explained, receiving a yawn from you. His shoulders slumped slightly. "Glad to know I have your attention."

"I like how you're the one who complains about being bored," you retorted without any real harm in your words, then proceeded to walk into his room and starfish facedown over the entirety of the bed.

A whine came from Bendy after you took up the whole space. "You left no room for me!"

You snapped something about him being too slow, though the actual words of what you said were muffled by the sheets. He didn't reply and decided to drape himself on top of you to once again signify the end of another conversation while you hissed and writhed underneath his weight. When you finally managed to escape from the crushing prison, you turned and growled at Bendy, only gaining a dissatisfying chortle in return.

Most of the night passed this way, with Bendy trying to piss you off one way or another and snickering when you grew even angrier than before with each jab at your temper. It was hard to tell the exact time of when you fell asleep because you were at first snarling at the ink demon for trying to convince you that shirts weren't allowed in his room and that you should take yours off, then you were gazing up sleepily at a ceiling that wasn't yours while morning light entered the room in small shafts, most of it blocked out by dark curtains. The first emotion to hit you after the initial confusion of waking up somewhere foreign was panic.

Where the hell were you? Why? What did you do?

Trying to answer your questions, you rubbed your tired eyes and glanced over beside you. That only made your panic worse. Even though you could only see his horns and the back of his head, you could easily tell that Bendy was asleep beside you, which immediately threw your reason off a cliff. A million different scenarios ran through your head (do I really have to explain the basic premise of them all?). Then, trying to get yourself to call down before you stopped breathing entirely, you cleared your mind, and the events of last night flowed back to you freely. Of course you didn't sleep with a literal cartoon character (not literally, because you technically did, but in the sense that... Oh, who am I kidding. There's no way to make this sound better).

That's just preposterous.

Anxiety somewhat alleviated, you stretched your arms and prepared for a slow rise as to not awake, stir, or alert the ink demon beside you of your presence in any way, shape, or form. The moment you began lifting your head from the pillows, however, Bendy shifted beside you. A rumbling purr came from the back of his throat and his tail thumped against the bed underneath the sheets but he soon settled down again, not making another peep.

_Fucking weirdo,_ you thought at the array of nonhuman noises he consistently made, then sluggishly slipped off of the occupied bed.

You didn't wake up nearly as early as you would have liked but then again, you did spend your entire night being stupid with a demon. A dull headache opened up behind your eyes and it was all you could do to not stumble loudly out of the room and curse while slamming the door shut. Instead, you slunk as silently as possible towards the slightly ajar exit, willing it not to creak as you pushed it open so that you had just enough room to slip out. The breath you didn't know you were holding escaped your lips once you had finally escaped the dark room. Your face still showed hot traces of embarrassment. Your stomach had to take a lifetime to stop flipping. When you got ahold of yourself and started quickly getting ready for work, you couldn't stop thinking about how you really wouldn't mind all of those mental scenarios to explain why you had woken up in a room that was not your own this morning.

Work was awful but you weren't really expecting it to be anything but. It was now official that Boobs McKenzie was your partner on Mondays from now on, which was a brilliant way to start of each week, you mused. The kicker wasn't even the fact that you were stuck with her; it was that she was actually doing better at your job than you. Putting this into perspective, it was like that silent kid who always sits in the back of the class speaking up for one single time in their life just to roast you. It was utterly embarrassing but that wasn't the first thing on your mind. The only reason why you couldn't focus was because it was hard to think about anything besides Bendy. At the mere thought of him, the smell of ice and paper swept over you and made your insides melt. You didn't realize that your fake blonde coworker was trying to get your attention until she screeched your name in your ear fiercely, then when you turned to her in a daze she began bombarding you with questions about where to return clothes that had drifted away from their home, inserting sleek insults about your mental health every now and then. 

"Here, let me put them all away," you offered impassively, judgment still clouded.

The blonde bimbo glared at you the entire time you gathered up the clothes and scooted away with them. It was a relief to be out of her sight but you still were carelessly ambling about the shift, in contrast to last week when you bit off the head of anyone who looked at you funny. The circumstances surrounding your current mood could be interpreted as better but in the few moments that you could resurface from the feelings you were drowning in, you saw them as a complete nuisance before being pulled back under. Apparently, your ex-schoolgirl co-worker decided to skip out on you near the end of the shift too, judging by the people who came up to you asking for assistance at the register and how she was nowhere in sight. You had to refrain from snarling as you led the frazzled customers back to the front of the store like a pack of sheep. The end of your time at work couldn't come soon enough. Well, technically it wasn't time for you to leave yet, but the person who was in charge of the next shift came early so you just... left them behind with an entire mob of customers angry with your attention-deficit treatment.

You weren't proud of it, but hey, you could go home and relax.

Okay, so maybe you didn't want to go home just to relax, maybe you just really wanted to be an idiot with Bendy, maybe you were slowly creeping your way into that extremely creepy obsessive part of liking someone but who cares? You emphasized this point by gripping your steering wheel tightly and pressing down on the gas. The car gave a growl in protest. You hissed back and then laughed like you belonged in a fucking looney bin.

_What the hell is wrong with me?_

No one answered.

By the time you pulled up to your house, you were a complete trainwreck, and you hadn't even stepped out of your car. You stumbled once you finally escaped the suffocating vehicle, unaware of your neighbors staring at you like you were drunk. It probably did appear that way to outsiders. You didn't think that it was possible to get drunk on ink, however. Not in a literal sense.

Speaking of ink, you could hear the TV blaring down the hall where your living room was when you had stepped inside after stumbling up the front porch.

"Bendy!" You sighed loudly and threw your things down.

At your call, the ink demon poked his head over, leaning on the edge of the couch to peer down the hall at you. "What?"

"Stop watching your damn show all the time!"

He laughed. "I gotta make the most of it before it's canceled!"

You decided not to scream your answer back and walked down the hall to him after putting away your things.

"It's getting canceled?"

"Well, not officially, but it's been goin' on for forever. All good things come to an end, right?"

His intelligent black optics bored into yours, making your throat constrict. "Right."

"So, you just gonna stand there and stare at me or...?"

"I'm not watching your show with you if that's what you want," you huffed and turned to the stairs. "I'm changing anyway. If you want me to be around you then turn it off before I come back down."

Disgruntled cartoon eyes followed you as you rose up the stairs and you refused to meet them. Quiet thumps came from the stairs as you hurried up and you wanted to practically rip off your uncomfortable work clothes. It was a relief to finally let yourself breathe when you stumbled into your room. Pulling off your nice outfit and tossing on a long sweatshirt, you began searching for some pants. Your dresser was looking quite barren, indicating that you should do laundry sometime soon. You hated doing the laundry. Apparently, your clothes were against you, because not a single pair of clean pants presented themselves. You sighed, annoyed, then gave up. If Bendy didn't have to wear a shirt then you weren't required to wear pants. Besides, your sweatshirt was long enough and you missed the days where you could walk around in your house in whatever you wanted, even if you were completely alone then. 

When you had jumped back downstairs, Bendy was still staring blankly at himself on TV, the thin cuts on his cheek illuminated by the light. You snorted and walked down the hall to your sunroom.

 

 

"Hey!" He called after you and flung himself over the edge of the couch, then nearly fell over it. "You said that you'd sit with me!"

"Yeah, if you turned off the TV, and you didn't."

A solid thud sounded as Bendy slid off the edge of the sofa and scrambled after you down the hall, making sure the television was off when he left. Even  though you were looking out the window at the dying sun, the ink demon could tell that you would be glaring daggers at him if you had bothered to look over.

"You're not wearing pants," he noted and slumped beside you, the entire couch bouncing as he sat down.

You tried not to squeal at the sudden jolt and finally scowled at him. "If you don't have to wear a shirt, then I don't have to wear pants."

"That's fine," he said with his signature stupid grin, which faded away when you began looking out the window again and he took his chance to stare at your legs.

"Did you do anything today?" You asked suddenly without facing at the ink devil, who jumped and glanced up briefly to make sure you weren't looking at him.

His answer was directed to your thighs. "Besides watch TV and go through your stuff, no. I mean, I did sort through your old photos and pick out all the ones where you're smiling without being hopped up on drugs, but yeah, that's about it."

Bendy barely had enough time to look up when you turned abruptly to face him. The usual beam brightened his face again. Dark orange and violet rays of fading sunlight poured in through the window, staining his face with the colors of the sunset and masking the deep gray that was underneath the pooled colors.

_Damn you, butterflies._

"I'm surprised you got any photos of me smiling."

"So am I. I didn't think you were one to pose for a picture but..." A shrug followed his joke, accompanied by his near-permanent smile. However, the ink demon's expression soon faded to a lesser-seen serious face. "Your parents really didn't know what they had. When you literally make a sentient being, you should take care of it. It's not there to tear apart or be treated like a mistake. It's there because _you_ made something and even if you had an 'accident' or if it was some experiment, then you should deal with the consequences and learn how to be a damn fa--parent. A parent. We can't always blame ourselves for what others do to us. We can try as hard as hell to make them see but sometimes you just can't. If they're too dense to see, then that's their fault."

You had a feeling that the cartoon was partially speaking out of personal experience but found that you couldn't voice these suspicions. You were frozen in place, with a hot sensation trickling from your head to toes. Bendy tilted his head and you felt a gloved hand trace the side of your face. Black eyes that were usually so cold had now turned into molten pools. Outside, the last few rays of the sun disappeared and now shrouded the ink demon in shadow, hiding most of his softened face. 

 

His voice had cooled and came out gentler than you ever heard it. "Don't blame yourself."

Your insides had turned to jelly and words failed to come to you. Instead of answering promptly like a normal human being, you swallowed heavily, lowered your head, and cast a nervous half smile up to the demon above you. His head was still cocked and a faint trace of amusement dusted his features. The same overwhelming smell of paper and mint washed over you, your face heating up to its boiling point as you tilted your head back up and slowly leaned forwards. Bendy's hand slid underneath your chin and a soft purr came from the back of his throat. The smell was unbearable now. You felt the faintest ghost of a kiss on your lips before yet another interruption came, this time in the form of your doorbell ringing. 

"What the  _fuck?!_ " Bendy jumped back and hissed, tail lashing angrily as you sat dumbfounded in the middle of the couch.

"I guess that was the door," you said absentmindedly like nothing had happened and shuffled to the entrance in a trance-like manner.

Bendy hurried after you, resulting in a scuffle with you trying to push the ink demon away from the door and him point blank refusing to move further than a few inches away from your backside. You rolled your eyes, forced him to promise not to move, then opened the door a crack to poke your head out and peer out at whoever interrupted you.

Your face immediately fell from angry to exhausted when you saw who dared ring your doorbell. It was that damn college kid.  

 

"Who is it?" Bendy leaned over you and whispered near your ear angrily.

You tried not to shiver at the feeling of his jeans across your bare legs and kicked him in the shin before speaking to the frazzled looking college boy. "Um, hi, do you need something?"

"I thought we were going out again tonight," he replied, blinking, confused, under his hood.

Your stomach dropped and the ink demon behind you stiffened. "We were?"

"I asked before you went back home on Friday. Remember? You said yeah and then left."

Honestly, you were so dazed on Friday that you could see yourself agreeing to whatever he said without realizing what you had actually said "Yes" to.

 

"Oh. Well, I don't remember that and if I did then I'm not ready to go out..."

"But you really did say so! I can wait while you get ready."

Would it make you a bad person if you ditched him? Putting aside your personal image, you didn't really want to find out what would happen if you refused to go with him. You bit your lip, mind still foggy from the tingling sensation against them, then made a hasty decision. 

 

"Fine. I'll get ready. Just wait here."

It was hard to stomach the look of ecstatic glee that passed over the boy's face before you slammed the door on him.

The moment you turned back to face the inside of your home you were pinned against the door by a snarling ink demon. 

"I thought you said that you only had one date with him," Bendy hissed, black eyes flashing both with anger and something else. 

"I-I did," you gasped, a dark blush blooming across your face at the feeling of his chest and hips flush against yours. "I thought I did but I w-was so tired on Friday he could have asked me while I wasn't paying attention."  

 

The searching look he gave you lasted forever. You thought you were going to burst with the apprehension until the ink devil groaned and let go of you. You slid down the wall, shuddering. 

"I won't go on another," you told him in a shaky whisper. "I didn't know I even had one tonight, I didn't want one, I wanted to... to..."

Bendy gave you a dismayed look when you didn't finish your sentence and begged, "Don't do that again! Please? Pay attention and don't let him take advantage of you?"

"I won't," you sighed and stood back up. "Just this one last time. I can't deny him that, can I?"

The ink demon didn't answer and crossed his arms while leaning against the dining room table, looking surlier by the second.

"Would it make you feel better if I watched your show with you when I get back?"

No answer came. 

You sighed again. "I'm gonna go get ready, then."

The sulking ink demon watched your bare legs stride away upstairs. It didn't take too long for you to get ready, mainly because you just wanted to get the night over with. Bendy was still lurking where you left him when you came back down and you shot him a helpless look. The devil's heart won him over and he slunk over to you, trying to look as pissed as possible.

"I'll see you," he said tartly, not meeting your gaze. 

At his terse demeanor, you rolled your eyes and put your arms around him and replied in a snort, "I'll see you too, you asshole."

The ink demon let go first and replied, "You're doing a very good job describing yourself. Also, I'm holding you accountable for watching my show with me when you get back."

You laughed but it quickly faded into a tense silence. Bendy's optics drifted away from you to the door, behind which the college boy was waiting. You followed his gaze and swallowed nervously, fingers drumming against your thigh and nostrils flaring.

"Don't blame yourself," the demon reiterated in your ear one last time, breath cool, and walked off down the hall. 

With one last fleeting glance at the disappearing form of Bendy, you forced down your rising anxiety and slipped out into the pale moonlit outdoors. The college boy waiting on your porch followed your swift steps away from your house, saying that he was planning on walking around the city with you.

You would have much rathered that it was Bendy chasing after you.

Throughout the entire night of achingly bright lights and your companion rambling about his day at college, all you could think about was the faintest trace of Bendy's lips on yours.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ABSOLUTELY INFURIATING, ISN'T IT?!
> 
> It's like the universe is conspiring against Bendy's dick. Well, the universe as in me dragging my ass and feeding off of y'all's suffering.
> 
> I swear I am not a Dementor.
> 
> No, I am not Umbridge either.
> 
> I'm fucking Voldemort! HA!
> 
> Again, this chapter was just a little teaser for an event sometime around Chapter 16, so...
> 
> If it makes you feel better then I envisioned Reader-chan and Bendy having sex if the college douche didn't interrupt. Actually, saying that probably made you feel worse, though... Oops. Oh well.
> 
> I stand by my promise to deliver Chapter Three lore and an EVENTUAL hookup, though! Just hang on, leave me some support down below or on my Twitter (@ThrillTheKiller) and stay tuned for next chapter!
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	14. Fishbowl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "That's like taking your shirt off and asking me to just look."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back with another chapter.
> 
> So, this one isn't too fascinating, besides college douchebag being, well, a douchebag. It's mainly filler and foreshadowing until shit goes DOWN the next couple of chapters.
> 
> I'm particularly excited for Chapter 16 :)
> 
> Before you read on, though, I have some news (sorta kinda) about stuff. I'm getting my interim this Wednesday, which is like a checkup on grades, and I'm pretty sure mine are far from fabulous. If I'm guessing correctly, then I will no longer be able to use my phone or tablet, both of which I need to update this story.
> 
> You see what I'm getting at?
> 
> If that is the case, then please don't freak out if I don't update for a while. I'm going to try and make Chapter 15 before Wednesday but after that if I go silent, then here's my heads up. Let's hope I get good grades, all right?
> 
> Without further ado, here's my stupid update. Read on and enjoy.

The week passed by with much awkwardness, anger, and frustration. Friday seemed further away than ever, until it snuck up on an unsuspecting town, bringing with it exhaustion and the impending relief of the weekend. Children dragged their bags along the sidewalk to their buses, in contrast to earlier in the week when they were happily skipping off to school. A few of the young children clustered together--siblings, to be specific--were conversing seriously over the events of the past week or so. They were making an idealistic plan to run away with their mother and survive off of gummy worms for the rest of their lives (this suggestion being put forth by the youngest sibling, which was approved by furious nodding). See, their father wasn't exactly the nicest person, as they had realized not too long ago when they found their abused mother collapsed at his feet. Their plans were interrupted by a bus pulling up in front of them but they boarded it with the promise to continue their little chat at a later time. They were then split up by another larger gang of children into separate seats, forced to fend off the weight of the real world from settling onto their small shoulders with no support.

You sat in your car behind the bus where the frustrated children sat, wanting to bang your head on the steering wheel. First of all, this bus was as slow as molasses, second, you had a headache, and third, you were already pissed off enough from the build-up of emotions the entire week. After Monday, Bendy apparently gave up trying to do anything with you and now slumped around your house like a complete bum. It was nothing short of torture. If you weren't so confused, shy, and almost guilty about your feelings, then you would have taken matters into your own hands by now. You had done it before. High school boys were idiots but you guessed that 20-year-olds were, too.

This was mainly the reason why you were now stuck in traffic behind a bus. Bendy was being a whiny bitch and you couldn't take it anymore, so you shot him a hasty goodbye and left for work. In a nutshell, he had completely flipped his shit when you came downstairs and snuck up behind him, tried throwing you off of your sofa for the TV remote, and started tearing apart random papers he found on your dining room table while you were eating.

He had reverted back to his pre-enlightened asshole self and it was not pretty. Why the ink demon decided to crank his douchebag dial up to a million, you did not know, but you didn't want to be around him until he calmed down. You assumed that it was because of the multiple times he tried and failed to do something with you earlier this week that he had decided to take out his resentment on your poor, innocent possessions. Then again, it could just be your wishful thinking of maybe the literal blob of ink you were obsessed with returned your feelings no matter how much of an ass he was.

You should have just ignored the doorbell on Monday and ripped off Bendy's pants. That would have been better. You should have done that. A familiar haze fogged your vision and you slid down in your seat, wondering if this was why so many people in high school handed themselves out like candy on Halloween.

Speaking of Halloween, the second date you had at the beginning of the week was yet another disaster. You thanked whatever god was out there that you wouldn't have to deal with it ever again. Right?

The college boy had tromped around the city with you simmering behind him the entire time, wanting desperately to turn back time and finish what Bendy had tried to start. It was painstakingly boring between the route you had seen a thousand times before and more of the college asshat's life story. Then at the end of it all was the real cherry on top. He was going to ask you on another date but you had kept Bendy's word and paid close attention to find any hint of the boy trying to make you go on a third night of torture with him.

"So, (Y/N)," he had drawled, leaving a sour taste in your mouth. "Up for another night this Friday?"

"Actually, I don't think I am," you had replied with a snottiness that surprised even you. "I think I could find a better way to spend my Friday night."

This clearly had not been the response the college boy was expecting. "What?" He had choked out and turned on you.

Your path down the sidewalk had been blocked by his towering form. More bitter dislike had filled your mouth at this. If it was Bendy looming over you, then you would have felt your knees knock and insides melt. The college boy doing this had only made you stand taller and meet his confounded gaze defiantly.

"I said no. I don't want to go out with you again."

"Why?" He had demanded on the borderline of confusion and fury. "Why not?"

There was an edge to your reply. "Because I don't like you."

Anger had seemed to be winning over him. "Then why even ask me out in the first place?"

"I... I thought I could make something work. But I can't. I just don't like you."

"Is there someone else?" The college boy had growled dangerously and narrowed his eyes.

"No!" You had lied to him, trying not to think of the tingling sensation on your lips that followed you around that entire night. "It just won't work. I wanted to try something but it didn't work. I don't want to be with you like this. You're just my neighbor, not my boyfriend."

"There's someone else." Voice a menacing hiss, the college boy had continued to meet your gaze with equal spite. "Who was that guy with you that one day? What was his name again?"

"I am _not_ with him."

"Who are you fucking with, then? Because it's obviously not me."

You had begun to slowly lose what little patience you could hang onto. "No one! That's the point! I don't want to be with anyone, you're just my neighbor, I never wanted to be with you!"

"Then why ask me in the first place?"

"Because! I told you, I wanted to see how it would go and it didn't end up how I thought it would," you had lied again, unsure of how he would react if you told him that the only reason why you could loosely be considered a thing was because some cartoon character who happened to be alive made a bet with you.

"You were just using this as a pick-me-up."

 _More like a take-me-down!_ "No, I wasn't. It just won't work. I'm not going on another date with you."

"But we can make it--!"

"No, we can't. I'll see you later," you had then released some of your fury and muttered, looking down at your feet and pushing past the boy to walk away down the sidewalk.

"You can't just leave!" He had called after to you, a desperate whine making his voice tremble.

"Good-bye," you had heaved back forcefully and picked up your pace down the path that led you back to where your heart currently resided.

The college boy had just stood there ominously, staring down at the darkness where you had disappeared with a shadow hiding his expressionless face.

The moment you had reached home you collapsed into Bendy's arms, shivering, then held up to your promise of watching his show with him until you could hardly keep your eyes open and passed out against his chest.

"I told ya sleep is pointless," the ink demon had insisted and you could recall the faintest smug grin on his face above you before you had finally shut your exhausted eyes.

 _You're pointless,_ you now thought at the memory, nose barely poking from above the steering wheel as you crept along the street.

If only Bendy had kept up his kindness to you throughout the entire week. It would make you feel like he actually deserved what you had planned for tonight. Instead of going out with your neighbor douchebag, you were going to take your roommate douchebag to the nicer part of the city, which he didn't get to see the first night you took him there. There was a pet shop in the nicer part, too. Maybe Bendy would like fish.

If you were being realistic, then he would probably try suffocating them just to see what would happen. The thought both amused yet disgusted you, so you returned to your focus to the road, immediately perking up when the traffic began moving.

It took forever for you to get to work but you were still early. You internally thanked Bendy for indirectly kicking you out of the house and made your way to the back of the store where your nametag awaited you. The person who had opened the store gave you a friendly wave as they stepped out of the backroom to leave. You waved back and sighed once they left, not even being at work for five minutes and already hoping for the end of your shift. Look on the bright side: at least Boobs McKenzie wasn't working with you today. The downside? Well, it was the fact that you had to come to work at all. You weren't sure if you would have rathered dealing with a pissy ink demon or work at the moment but either way, you couldn't afford to take a day off after skipping out early last week. You were walking a thin line and sooner or later someone would notice if you kept nearly falling off the edge.

There was a lull throughout the day to your immense relief. It was like someone placed a blanket over the consumer's need to buy buy buy, spend spend spend, only leading to the least faint of heart shoppers sniffing out the sale racks and discount offers. Your coworker today wasn't half bad, which you concluded after fooling around playing a miniature game of paper football with them (the football was actually made out of money which you ruined from excessive flicking but what your boss didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? One measly bill seemed like a small price to pay for your temporary amusement).

Although they were fun and you were mildly interested in the games you played to pass the time, you couldn't stop thinking about how much more you would enjoy doing these things if they were with Bendy. The ink demon would probably flick the paper football in your face on purpose and then stubbornly claim it to be an accident, or pretend like customers had walked in and then laugh when you look up to find no one in sight.

Your daydreams were interrupted when a small object hit you in the forehead and a squeak sounded. You gasped like you had emerged from a deep pool and looked over at your coworker, blinking numbly.

"Sorry!" They said, smiling apologetically. "I didn't actually think that you weren't paying attention. I didn't mean to do that."

Remembering what you imagined Bendy doing if he was here, you sighed and tossed the makeshift toy back over at them. "I'm just thinking."

Your aim was horribly off. They had to scramble on the floor to find the paper and while searching they asked, "About who?"

You kept yourself from saying How did you know I was thinking about someone and instead asked, "What do you mean who?"

"(Y/N), I'm almost out of college. I think I can tell when someone is thinking about someone else. After all, my professors point those kids out all the time. Who is it?"

"No one," you replied meekly and pretended to be absorbed in your small football game.

"Do you want me to hold things down here so you can leave?"

"No."

Your forceful response took them aback. "O-Oh. Okay, I mean, if you're sure. Hey, wanna do something else now that this bill we folded up is pretty much demolished?"

The rest of your shift was tainted with a sour tinge from this encounter, however much you liked your coworker's company. By the time the afternoon rolled around, you were antsy and anxiously pacing around the multiple store aisles. All you could think about was going home and padding after the ink demon that awaited you. It was almost too much to bear. When you were sure that no one was watching, you slipped into the employees only room, put away your name tag, and gathered your things. You glanced out the door before sneaking back out to sit in a reserved side of the store and daydream about ink and paper and the faintest taste of mint he left on your lips, passing the time until you could go home and be with Bendy.

Not much time had gone by before you had to leave but waiting felt like eternities to you. The warm afternoon air blowing across your face took an immense weight of your shoulders as you let the store, yet you still felt your stomach sinking and it wasn't just because of the sticky sweet smell of blossoms. You just wanted to go home.

Heat rose off of the black pavement in waves, causing the horizon to shimmer and distort. It was hard to think that only a few weeks ago the weather was still a bit cool, but then again, a few weeks ago you would have been revolted by the idea of falling in love with a cartoon character. A few cars hummed along the street but the traffic wasn't nearly as bad as the morning's rush hour. You blamed yourself for leaving home so early but you also blamed Bendy for being a dick to you which was the main reason why you had left.

Your other coworker had already gotten in their car and let, courtesy of parking right in front of the store. They waved at you good-naturedly before pulling out of the parking lot and leaving. Once they were out of sight, you sighed and rolled your eyes, wondering why you always parked so far away from the strip mall. It just made for tired feet and more anxiety to get home. You finally approached the vehicle, though not yet relieved. You didn't think that hot, nauseous feeling in your gut would disappear when you got home. With a groan, you slumped into the driver's seat and shifted into drive. No one but you was crazy enough to park so far out so you were easily able to pull away from the enormous parking lot and out to the main road.

Long shadows stretched over the ground in the afternoon sun. More heat lines rose up lazily from the black pavement. It didn't help your focus to be seeing the hazy lines when your mind was already blurring everything into a senseless jumble, the only real feeling you currently felt being one of a lovesick puppy. It was almost embarrassing how bad you had fallen for a cartoon of all things, a cartoon you had watched since you were a little kid. If someone told your younger self that you would be obsessed with that very character, you would have laughed in their face and called them crazy. Now you were wondering just how big his dick is.

The thought made you shudder both in self-disgust and a sick want. From then on, you tried keeping your attention solely on the road. It worked until someone shooting down the other lane nearly ran into and you traded your senseless daze for angry howling. As if that encounter didn't leave you in a bad enough mood, when you got home you saw the college kids at home with the window open to allow a dark smoke to curl out of their house. Nose wrinkled, you tried being as quiet as possible while getting out of the car and creeping up to your house. The last thing you needed was for that douche to come out and see you. He had been strangely quiet during the week and for some reason, you felt as if this meant nothing good. Even if you were apprehensive of a foreseen storm, there was nothing you could do about it now. You unlocked your door, jumped inside, and released the breath you didn't know you were holding once you were safely behind the locked front door. You didn't notice Bendy glowering at you from the couch in your sunroom until you threw your things on the dining room table and turned around to go upstairs.

You paused. "Hi."

He continued staring you down and didn't answer.

"Okay, then," you gave a growling sigh and loped off to the stairs, not wanting to spend a minute longer being scrutinized by Bendy. Your last few words drifted down the stairs at him. "Be that way."

The ink demon forced his lip to stop curling at this remark. Monday had put him in a foul mood for the entire week and today was no different. The frustration he felt was being directly channeled towards you, which was somewhat self-destructive considering the reason for his anger, but he was still building a wall of resentment between the two of you nonetheless. Bendy continued glaring at nothing in particular and looked out the window, allowing his gaze to drift over to the smoke pouring from your college neighbors' house. A scowl immediately twisted his face. He hadn't the faintest clue as to why you didn't just reject the kid and call him a liar but who guessed it, you left with the smug asshole anyway, leaving Bendy utterly alone and frustrated between both the tightness of jeans and being ditched. It would have been much better if he had refused to let go of you while pinning you to the door. The thought of having sex practically in the college kid's face made the ink demon immediately feel better but didn't help him in the long run. If you didn't come down soon, then he would probably toss his head back and leave another couple of holes in your wall with his hooked horns. Every passing second made him feel worse and worse and hearing your neighbors hooting in the background didn't help.

The sun began falling over the horizon, carrying eerie shadows over the devil's pale face. Blood red and traces of purple swirled in the sky, replacing his white complexion with orange. Bendy narrowed his black eyes against the glare.

A few stars had started appearing in the faded sky when you finally came back downstairs. You were wearing a simple hoodie over freshly-washed hair and a clean pair of jeans.

"Go put on a hoodie and make sure you hide your tail in your pants," you said without a proper greeting and jerked your head towards the stairs you had just descended. "Come back down when you're done."

The childish anger Bendy had felt all week faded slightly as he stood up and slunk down the hall towards you. "Are we going somewhere?"

"Just go do what I told you," you replied vaguely without meeting his gaze and walked away.

Stung, Bendy snorted and bounded up the steps two at a time to the room you have him. His idea of organizing himself had been tossing all of the clothes you got him in one drawer in his dresser and filling up the rest with random items stolen from throughout your house. The ink demon pawed through junk, unsure if he should still be angry or trade that emotion for mellow happiness. He was still somewhat conflicted as he pulled a sweatshirt he had salvaged from the wreckage of his room over his horned head and jumped down the stairs, nearly tripping and falling over the last step.

"Graceful," you noted, standing by the front door.

"Of course," Bendy said, clearly unfazed, eyebrow raised like he was wondering why you were stating the obvious. "You gonna tell me what we're doin' or am I gonna follow you around like a sheeple."

In reply, you yanked his hood over his head, trying to keep the laughter out of your voice when he slapped you away and hissed. "We're going to the city."

"Again?" He whined and shook his hood off.

"Yes, again," you snapped at his spoiled attitude. "This time we're going to the nicer part. You should be happy that I'm taking you at all after the way you've been acting the entire week."

"Sorry," he purred, clearly not apologetic, but at least he seemed to be in a much better mood.

"Whatever, just don't act like a baby over not getting what you want."

You could see his incoming retort from a mile away, so before he could say "You can call me baby anytime" in a false, fluttery sigh, you opened the door and dragged him out. The ink demon protested against your grip on his skinny arm, then tried pulling your hood down over your eyes to blind you. The resulting fight didn't last long and was a complete bust for you, anyway. After you managed to push the sneering devil off of you and remove yourself from your front door, you flipped Bendy's hood back up and ran away down the sidewalk before he could retaliate.

It didn't take long for Bendy to catch up and take stride beside you.

"So, where're we going again?" He asked in your ear, conveniently ignoring Joey Drew Studios in the corner of his vision.

"The nicer part of the city. The part we went to was sorta your stereotypical city. We're going to the place where they have all the nice little stores and it looks more like a downtown area instead of a huge city."

"Oh," he said slowly in understanding. "So, is it in the same general area, or...?

"We have to walk a bit further this time."

A groan came from the ink demon at your side. "Why do I have to walk? Why can't we just drive?"

You slowed down and looked him up and down. "You will never understand the human need for exercise."

"Of course I won't, I'm not a human and I'm glad I'm not."

"Are you?"

Black eyes bored into yours. You could still see the faint scratches on Bendy's pale cheek, slowly disappearing. "Yes."

Your breath caught in your lungs. "Okay, okay, I was just wondering..."

The two of you fell into an uncomfortable silence, which was pierced by the sound of traffic. The darkness around you was replaced with neon lights so bright they could challenge the sun. It was the less decent part of the city where you had gone last time, with towering buildings and shady street corners. Out of the corner of your eyes, you could see Bendy trying to cast covert glances upwards to soak in all of the information without suffering from sensory overload. It was admittedly cute how he was trying to hide the fact that the city still awed him after your last visit.

Smothering a grin, you curled your arm around his and said, "Come on, the nice part isn't that far. We can go look at all of the shops."

"Okay," he agreed blankly, allowing himself to be dragged across streets and around corners.

The landscape once again changed. Buildings shrunk, the smell of gas faded, and the faces of the crowds became much more amiable. Neon lights were replaced with a softer glow that was much easier on the eyes. You were satisfied that you had reached the friendlier side of the city.

"Is this where we s'posed to be?" Bendy leaned over and asked you.

You pressed your side against his and replied, "Yeah. A lot less... overwhelming, isn't it?"

The presence at your side retracted with an almost dreamy, "Definitely," then began observing the displays in the store windows.

Allowing Bendy a few moments to absorb the sights from a bakery display, you walked over a few moments later and spoke up softly. "When I moved here after I graduated, this was how I spent my time. It was just nice to look at everything even if I knew I couldn't have any of it. Do you understand that?"

It was hard for the ink demon to refrain from saying more than he should while staring down at you expressionlessly. _You have no idea how well I understand that._ "I do."

"Do you want to look at the other things around? There's a pet shop here, too. If it's okay, then I want to show it to you."

"That's fine."

You smiled at his reply and Bendy found it hard to keep himself in a solid form. With that, you whisked him away down the street, showing off all of the different displays, telling yourself that maybe, just maybe, it was okay to be in love with a cartoon character. Many shops and stupid pick-up lines on Bendy's part later, you laughed while pulling him down the sidewalk. A toy shop then caught your eyes and made you halt and turn around to face it. Bendy continued a few paces forward before realizing that you were no longer at his side. The cartoon paused and looked back at you, confused.

"Oh my god," you said, still not moving.

"What?" Bendy sighed, annoyed that you were no longer clinging to his arm. "What are you--oh my god."

In the window display of a small toy store was a shelf filled to the brim with stuffed Bendys. You spun on one heel to grin at the real one standing beside you.

"(Y/N), no."

"No what?"

"No."

"I didn't even say anything."

"I can see your face, (Y/N), no."

"I'm gonna get ten."

"No."

Without answering, you grabbed Bendy's wrist unexpectedly and dragged him into the store. His protests came too late. The two of you were already welcomed into the store with the ring of a bell and a cashier jolting awake and scrambling to not slide off the counter they were slumped over while sleeping. Ignoring their panicked fussing, you pulled Bendy over to where the display was and started studying all of the different toys from his show.

"I don't see why you aren't enjoying this when you're always so obsessed with yourself," you said without any real venom at the ink demon's objections.

"I don't see why you need to look at toys when the real one is literally right beside ya," he shot back in a hiss, glaring at the merchandise of him surrounding you.

Straightening back up with a plush in your hands, you held it out to him and replied, "Yeah, well, you aren't cute. This is cute."

"And how is that any different from me?"

"Well, first off, it doesn't put holes in my walls with horns bigger than my head..."

Oh. So you did notice that.

"...and second off, this one is small. Not a goddamn noodle on stilts."

"I am not a noodle."

"Yes, you are. I'm getting one."

"Why?" Bendy whined and gritted his teeth.

Any other time, he would have made fun of you for "wanting him" in a sense but there was the connotation with those damn toys. Bendy remembered seeing where they were made with a shiver. It was depressing. The first time he had seen that expansion of the studio was when he had still been a little kid, nearly dying on the creaky elevator down to that level and walking in on Joey Drew screaming at another worker for some reason or another. The people there seemed to hate him even more than the rest of the workers. No, Bendy would stick close to his home turf by the ink machine and animators, thank you very much.

As if reading his mind, you asked, "Who even makes these things?"

Bendy stifled a shudder. "Shawn Flynn."

You paused hesitantly, trying to put a face to the name, then guessed, "Irish guy?"

"Yeah."

"Oh," you relaxed, remembering the worker. He had never spoken to you much, probably because you worked in different parts of the studio, but whenever you did converse he was quite funny and polite. "I've talked to him a few times."

"Good for you. Want a sticker?"

A glare answered the devil's smart remark. "You're an ass. Now move so I can buy ten of these."

"Ugh, noooooooo," Bendy answered and rolled his black eyes under his hood. "Don't."

"Why shouldn't I?"

"Because no."

"That isn't a reason."

"Yeah it is. Don't get one, please?"

"Why are you so against me getting a damn toy of you?"

"Look, if ya really want one so bad, then you could probably get them at the studio," he reasoned, hoping that you would forget about the merchandise by tomorrow morning so you wouldn't get one of those abominations at all. "Plus, I still wanna look at stuff. Come on, let's just go!"

You held his gaze for a few seconds, then narrowed your eyes. "Fine. I don't see why you don't want one, though..."

The Bendy toy was tossed behind you and forgotten, while the cashier had fallen back asleep over the counter. The tinkling bell rung overhead as you left through the front door, this time being tugged open by Bendy. It was amazing just how relieved the ink demon felt by the night air, instead of the stifling mustiness of the toy store. The place weirded him out. Maybe it just reminded him of the studio.

"So, where to now?" He asked, mood obviously brightened.

"Besides you trying to control what I do and don't buy?" The dry remark flew over the ink demon's head and wasn't acknowledged. You sighed. "Okay, then. That pet shop I told you about is around here somewhere. I think it's safe to assume you've never seen a bunny or fish before?"

"No. But I've seen a cat."

You laughed and reached a hand up to trace the faint marks left on his cheek. "I know. Trust me, fish are much better."

"So I've heard," he said in a much higher-pitched voice than usual.

Another laugh from you made his throat constrict even tighter. "Come on, it should be around here somewhere..."

Like most of the night, Bendy was dragged around while you sniffed out the location of the pet shop, which should have been easier considering how this area was much neater and organized than the main city. In the end, it was Bendy who found the shop, mainly by pressing himself against the front window while you gazed across the street and saying, "Look at the doggos."

"Doggos?" You asked, attention redirected. "Oh. Right. I guess you found it."

"You're terrible at lookin' for things," Bendy snorted and walked in without you.

"Hey!" You yelled at him, getting a door slammed in your face.

Yanking it open, you hurried after the ink demon, pulling his hood down even further when you caught up to him. "I am not terrible at looking for things."

"Y'are because I found this when I wasn't even paying attention," he insisted, peering over into a large cage pressed against the wall. "Look! They're fighting."

You pressed yourself into the ink demon's side and tried to catch a glimpse of what he was watching. Two furry tube-like animals filled your gaze, one dark brown and the other cream, both of which were hissing and wrestling with each other. It was a bit distasteful to you but Bendy seemed to like it by the way he started cackling beside you.

"What are these?" he asked, trying to reach a gloved finger through the bars but almost getting nipped by one of the animals. "I want them."

"They're ferrets, and you only want them became they're mean."

"They look like slinkies. We should buy 'em all."

"There is no way I am getting you one of those things." Another hiss coming from the ferrets seemed to prove your point. "Especially not if I couldn't even get a toy because of you."

"Why would you need that when you can play with the real thing?" Bendy purred.

Stifling the urge to punch him in the eye, you left the ink demon behind and took your own tour around the shop. So much for trying to see if he liked fish. He was only interested in the asshole animals, which was the thing that got him clawed in the first place. To make your tour even better, Bendy sought you out after becoming bored with the ferrets' fight and decided to question you about the finer points of housebreaking dogs.

"Look, bunnies!" You exclaimed with false enthusiasm to get him to refocus his attention.

It worked until he decided to let his peculiarities show again.

"Can you eat them, though?" He wondered aloud.

"What the hell?" You shied away from the ink demon and shot him a confounded look.

You were beginning to regret your decision to bring Bendy here. Luckily, it didn't last long, because you started to get tired while he was once again convincing you to buy the entire aisle of ferrets supplies. It was a struggle to pull him away from their cage after he took almost fifteen minutes to "say goodbye."

"I really wanted the slinkies," Bendy continued complaining, even when you were almost out of the city.

"They're not slinkies and I don't care how much you wanted them, I told you that we were there to look."

"That's like taking your shirt off and asking me to _just look._ "

"First of all, that's a horrible example, second of all--"

"(Y/N)?" A familiar but unwanted voice behind you made you freeze.

You turned in sync with Bendy, who seemed about ready to kill someone.

The college boy took a pace forward along with the two followers behind him. His eyes were narrowed to dangerous slits under his hood. "I thought you weren't going out Friday."

No reply came. Your mouth was too dry, throat too constricted.

Anger continued building up in the college boy's tone as he pressed on, ignoring the fact that you didn't reply. "I also remember you telling me specifically that there was no one else. How about that?" He looked at Bendy, whose face was masked by his hood. It was hard to read the emotions coming from him when he was so still and blank. "What was your name again? Actually, wait, I don't fucking care, why are you with (Y/N) again?"

If you weren't frozen, then you would have screamed for the college douchebag to ask you to your face.

However, Bendy answered for you, since you were still too tightly wound to say anything. "Well, just for future reference, the name's Bendy, and why should ya care if she's with me and not you?"

"Because she's a liar," the college boy answered, looking at your still figure as he spat out the words like venom.

The ink demon's voice was as sleek and unconcerned as ever. "How so?"

"She dumped me. She said it was because she just didn't like me, not because there was someone else, but here you are with her, on the day I asked her to go out."

The two boys behind their "leader" looked like they were quite enjoying the spectacle, ready to keel over from laughing.

Bendy took note of this and replied coolly, "Well, this may be news to you, but I seriously would not fall in love with her if you paid me."

Ouch. Even if he was lying just to get the college boy to hop off your ass, it still stung. You flinched, which was probably not a good move, considering how the college boy noticed the movement.

"You're lying."

"Nah, you're acting like a spoiled child who didn't get the first pick of candy on Halloween," Bendy retorted scornfully.

"I can fight you if that's what you're asking for."

No trace of concern passed over the ink demon. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and said, "Like I'd waste my time with that. There's nothing to even fight over and plus, I don't think your friends would be real happy to help out."

The college boy looked behind him to where the followers behind him were trying not to giggle, then back at Bendy, who stared almost amusedly. He snorted. "Whatever. I don't care." Came his finalizing reply. The next piece of dialogue was then directed at you. "You'll see."

An arm then tugged at yours and turned you around to walk mechanically down the sidewalk. "Yep, see ya later! Nice meeting you!"

Once both of you were out of sight of the three college boys, you began loosening your tight muscles and Bendy murmured in your ear.

"God, what did you do to him that day?" A hint of laughter made the cartoon's voice shake. "Must be an enormous stick up his ass."

Finally able to speak, you pushed the ink demon away and cried, "I didn't do anything, he's just a complete child, and no thanks to you, because that stupid dare is the only reason I'm in this mess!"

"Alright, sorry, but it's pretty funny, isn't it?"

"No!"

"It totally is. You don't think he's actually gonna do anything, right?"

It was hard to answer that question. Instead of thinking of a plausible response, you tugged on his hood and said, "I dunno."

A gloved hand swatted you away and the ink demon replied, "Well, he won't, so don't let it ruin your night. Anyway, since you didn't get your stupid toy, you can just play with me when we get home instead."

"Please stop."

Bendy just laughed and continued making fun of you for the rest of night, even going so far as to trying to get you to straddle him on the couch. How he was planning on that idea working, you didn't know, but all you could think about was how you really wouldn't mind that under different circumstances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, foreshadowing foreshadowing foreshadowing, ugh. Don't worry, though, I'll have stuff happen next chapter!
> 
> And yeah, I made Shawn Flynn Irish, since he's voiced by JackSepticEye and all. He's got an accent, okay? Leave me alone.
> 
> Thomas Connor won't appear until Chapter 16, I think... He's fucking great, you guys are gonna love him, seriously XD
> 
> So, yeah, stay tuned for next chapter where shit goes down, and for everything after that. Hope you enjoyed this one, though. Pray for my grades so I can update!
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	15. Fix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I've been trying for so long to sing you the right song, to show you something different every day. So you hear what I have to say, like puzzle pieces.
> 
> And now we're here at a stand still, I wonder if you feel the kind of pain that rips your insides out?
> 
> That's something I know all about...
> 
> Shocking, ain't it?
> 
> Is it because I can't be her?
> 
> Made your mistakes and make me hurt...
> 
> I can't fix you!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back today with Chapter 15.
> 
> So, before I talk about this chapter, I actually get my grades TOMORROW. Not that it matters but at least you have time to say one last prayer for me. Iactually took my PSAT today and Jesus Christ, I'm so glad I don't have to take one next year. I'm amazing at the English parts but math...
> 
> Ugh.
> 
> Anyway this chapter deals with a lot more of Chapter Three's lore, mainly with Susie and Alice. This is just the basis for glorious... manipulation?
> 
> Okay, that's not great, but whatever.
> 
> Enjoy Alice being a gay crybaby bitch and slowly going insane.

The next morning was peaceful. Soft white clouds dappled the baby blue sky, occasionally drifting over the sun but never leaving the land in darkness for too long. The heat had somewhat subsided into a spring-appropriate degree, assisted by a gentle breeze that rustled the trees. After the hustle and bustle of the week, everyone was glad to relax in the perfect weather. Drivers stopped hissing at each other. Children frolicked in their yards, temporarily forgetting about the stress of school and issues trapped inside the four walls of their home. Fewer teenagers hid in dark alleyways of the city, waiting to jump an unsuspecting passerby, though this was probably because of the fair weather. It made for few shadows for them to sulk in.

Everything was calm and peaceful.

Too calm and peaceful.

The universe had realized this, apparently, and decided to make quick amends to the mistake of perfection. It turned its sights on a certain girl walking up to Joey Drew Studios and paused, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Susie Campbell hummed happily as she begun her day with the job she loved so much. She always made sure to come early, always wanting to please her boss, Joey Drew. One day, for all her hard work, she may just be promoted. The thought both thrilled and terrified Susie. It was exciting because, of course, this was what she had worked for her entire life. On the flip side, she was also quite happy with the position she had. What would she do without her poor little angel at her side?

As if on cue, Alice Angel herself scurried up to Susie the moment she set foot into the workshop, a pale gray dusting her otherwise white cheeks.

"Hi, Susie," the angel greeted shyly, head dipped.

"Hi, Alice!" Susie said back enthusiastically with a wide, heart-stopping beam. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thank you," she squeaked politely. "How are you?"

"I'm always great when I'm here," Susie gushed, making the angel look up at her with wide, simpering eyes.

Do you mean when you're here with me? Alice wondered, chest aching.

"I'm gonna put my stuff down, but I'll be back to talk to you soon," Susie continued, the true, blatant meaning behind the cartoon's soft gaze on her being completely missed. "Wait for me?"

The girl's enthusiasm was infectious.

"Always!" Alice Angel sighed with a smile.

Before leaving, Susie patted the angel's fluffy black hair, gave one last sweet smile, then stepped past Alice to her recording set. The angel stared after her until she was entirely out of her sight. Once she was sure the worker was gone, she gave a giddy sigh and let her eyes involuntarily turn into cartoon-y hearts. Alice wondered briefly if this was how Bendy always felt whenever he got to go home with you, then the feeling was replaced with a burning want. She wanted to go home with Susie, she wanted to sit in her office and teach her how to animate, she wanted to follow her around all day with heart eyes whenever she wasn't looking, she wanted it so bad it hurt.

For now, however, she was fine with what she had and wouldn't trade it for the world. Alice Angel had no idea what she would do without her Susie Campbell.

Still exhaling dreamily, the girl began picking absentmindedly at a splintering piece of wood on the wall and wondered how Alice Campbell sounded.

Meanwhile, the object of the angel's affections was making her way to her office, completely oblivious to Alice's feelings. To Susie, this was just another normal day at the studio, where no one was desperately seeking her attention. Except for maybe Sammy. But he was a bit odd. The voice actress strutted closer to her office and looked forward to another great day of seeing what animations Joey had cooked up and trying to impress him with her superb work ethic. I would almost feel sorry for her, but then again, I, of course, know how her story will end.

Susie entered her office with a blaze of happiness that instantly made the space brighten. It then immediately faded when she saw Sammy Lawrence there, speaking to a girl she had never seen before in her life.

"Sammy?" Susie spoke up confusedly and gained his attention. "Who's this?"

"Ah, she's here," the musician first referred to the girl beside him then back to the one who had just entered the set. "Susie, this is Allison Pendle. You haven't met before, I assume?"

"Um, no," Susie answered a bit nervously, then regained her composure to hold out a hand to this Pendle figure. "Hello."

The new girl took it with equal apprehension and replied quietly, "H-Hello."

Sammy looked pleased with the greeting and said, "Now that you know each other, we can get down to business. Ms. Pendle will now be voicing Alice Angel."

It was with that remark that Susie Campbell felt like someone had pushed her off a cliff and she was suspended in the sky, weightless, waiting to crash.

A voice came out of Susie that didn't feel like it belonged to her. "Excuse me?"

"This is Allison Pendle. She is the new voice of Alice Angel."

"I-I don't... I don't understand..."

Patience was a virtue that Sammy Lawrence was slowly running out of. "Susie, I told you: This is Allison. I hope you can see that we no longer require you to voice Alice."

Hot tears began forming in the former voice actress's eyes. "I don't understand. This... This can't... There must be a mistake..."

A sharp edge hardened Sammy's tone as he said, "There is no mistake, Susie. You're not voicing Alice Angel anymore."

The free fall Susie was experiencing came to a sudden crash once she hit the ground, jarred by the impact. "No. No! You can't do this! You can't take my life's work away from me!"

Tears started blurring the girl's vision and flowing freely down her cheeks and she curled her fingers into fists, shaking violently. Susie barely acknowledged Allison Pendle backing away, eyes wide, realizing that she was getting a job at the cost of another person's. The former voice of Alice Angel continued pleading with Sammy to the point of making a scene.

"If you're going to act like this, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave, Susie," the musician said in a regretful tone that didn't meet his deadened optics.

"Leave? Leave?! You're asking me to leave my entire life behind?!" She screeched back and was then shepherded out into the hall and away by her former coworker. It was hard not to stumble as she was forced along, still howling and making a racket.

More employees came out to see the commotion, then were transfixed by the scene when they realized what was happening.

It was always sad to see one of them being let go but sometimes the reaction of the worker getting the boot made it even harder. Joey himself eventually made his way over to where Susie was trying to struggle back to her office and refuse to leave. He tried reasoning with her but did not succeed and simply fell in line next to Sammy to help usher the voice actress out of sight, away from the studio. The shrieks eventually reached where Alice was sitting by the entrance, picking at the wood. The angel looked up at the source of the noise who had interrupted her daydreaming and then let out a yowl herself.

"Susie!" She cried, scrambling to her feet and nearly tripping. "Susie, what are they doing to you?"

The cartoon tried catching the girl as she stumbled and looked up fearfully once Susie was somewhat steadied at her side. The dynamic duo of Joey and Sammy gazed back down at her, a crowd of workers behind them, trying to get a glimpse of what was going on.

"What did you do to her?" Alice squeaked again, this time up to Joey and Sammy. Their matching cold eyes bored into hers and she swallowed the familiar terror clawing at her throat.

"We dismissed her from her position as your voice," Sammy Lawrence answered nonchalantly.

Susie gave another sobbing heave at the verbal blow. The little angel supporting her could hardly believe her ears.

_Dismissed?_

_No longer my voice?_

_She won't be with me?_

It felt like the musician had plunged her into a bucket of icy water and was now laughing cruelly as she struggled to resurface, ink seeping from her skin and out to the water. The pain that opened up in her chest was sharper and harder than anything Joey could do to her. It felt like she was thrown off of the same cliff as Susie, shattering once she hit the ground below. The truth was, she was slowly falling apart at the seams, disbelief written all over her face as she stared at the unforgiving males towering over her.

"You can't," Alice whispered, clinging to Susie desperately. "You can't make her leave."

The former voice actress nodded frantically along with her best friend.

Joey Drew sighed. "Alice, I'm sorry, but there's nothing else to do. You aren't nearly as popular as we would like for you to be and some things just need to be changed. So, if you'll please let us continue..."

The presence at Alice Angel's side was tugged away by Sammy. She flinched when his fingers brushed against her arm as he peeled Susie from her death grip, then urged her back to the exit. It was agony to hear Campbell's pleas and protests, even more so when she began crying out to Alice, who could do nothing but stand at Joey Drew's side like an obedient little girl and watch. Numbness spread from her fingertips to her entire body, making her as still as a statue. She wasn't sure if she preferred this lack of feeling or the sharp pain from before.

Susie was cornered against the door by the music composer, who had his head tilted as if to say, Go on. Why are you still here?

"You can't do this to me," the girl sobbed weakly. "This was my entire life's work. You can't take it away."

No answer came beside a gesture inviting her to open the door and leave. With one last pitiful glance to Alice and a fearful one to her former boss, Susie scrambled at the door, fell out, then stormed away from Joey Drew Studios, blinded by grief.

Alice's figurative heart stopped. She couldn't believe that she was gone.

Then the roaring started. The employees who watched the scene poured into the entry room, inveighing against the head animator's harsh decision, coddling an oblivious Alice, speaking to each other in angry tones at what they had just witnessed. Even if Susie was no one's favorite and was slightly overbearing at times, no one could deny her fabulous work ethic and infectious enthusiasm.

Sammy stared at all of the other employees with obvious distaste. On the other hand, Joey was more annoyed than anything, trying multiple times to calm down the mob but to no avail. In the chaos, Alice had managed to sneak away from her creator's side, curling up in an abandoned hallway and adding to the commotion with thin, tight wailing. It was overwhelming.

The animator gritted his teeth, forced away an oncoming headache and barked, "Boris! Come here!"

The ink wolf, who had been watching the scene unfold like a gruesome movie out of sight, peeled himself away from the shadows and answered Joey nervously, "Y-Yes?"

"Go find Alice and Bendy and bring them to Susie's old office. We need to introduce them to Allison and hopefully, it won't turn out like last time when we introduced (Y/N) to Bendy. Go!"

A final snap sent the wolf away, tail between his legs and whimpering fearfully. Joey rolled his eyes at this and looked to the nearest worker besides Sammy. Thankfully, it was a sensible one.

"Norman," he gained the attention of the employee over the clamor.

Joey's worker jumped at the sudden voice then turned to the source, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Yes, sir?"

"I need to introduce Alice and Allison. Can you please keep an eye on everyone here and make sure they don't get too out of hand?"

A searching gaze trailed over Joey for some kind of catch to the order but found nothing. "Alright," Norman Polk answered, shuffling his feet. "I can do that."

"Good. Thank you," Joey nodded to him, then gestured towards Sammy to follow him back down the hall where Susie had been dragged down.

The creator's right-hand man blinked and pursued him, leaving Norman behind with the horde of buzzing employees as they melted into the deep recesses of the studio.

Upon the firing of Susie Campbell and the disappearance of Joey Drew and Sammy Lawrence, you slunk into the studio cautiously, with a suspiciously dark shadow following close behind. You had run a bit late this morning and were hoping to pass by to your office undetected. However, once you entered the crowded entry room, your hopes plummeted and a jolt of fear struck you. Panicking, you stomped on the ink puddle behind you, who splashed up angrily at the rough treatment but realized what you were trying to say. There were too many people around for Bendy to reform right behind you like he usually did.

The ink puddle then slipped away, still slightly resentful of how you stepped on it. No one had noticed your arrival yet. Perturbed, you focused your attention on the behaviors of the people. You almost immediately realized that something was wrong. Everyone's expressions were twisted into sneers or fretful faces and a dark cloud hung over them, threatening to burst. They conversed in fierce, hushed tones and continued glaring down at the dark hallway where Joey and Sammy had vanished just moments before your entrance.

Then you could make out the wailing. It was a sharp, painful, low noise that seemed to pierce your soul. You were so overcome with the sound that you almost didn't notice Bendy's pale face shrouded in the darkness behind, desperately seeking your attention. He was visibly relieved when you caught his eye and began mouthing something at you over the heads of the discontented employees mulling in front of him. It was hard to make out exactly what he was trying to say, especially with you being more focused on his forked tongue flashing between long, white fangs every so often, but you eventually received the message.

 _Alice_.

The ink demon was trying to tell you that Alice was behind those pitiful cries. Your eyes widened with a start and you mouthed back, _Really?_ Which was met with a stoic nod. Your stomach dropped even further and you began flitting through the crowd, making your way toward Bendy slowly but surely. He went back and forth between watching your stuttered approach and eying the employees in front of him frustratedly, eventually settling for flicking his tail nervously until you reached him. You were so close to surfacing from the mob and pressing yourself against him, so close...

Until Norman saw you and hurried over.

"(Y/N)!" He greeted, blocking your path to Bendy with outstretched arms.

You could see the ink demon throwing you more exasperated looks from behind the worker. It would have been cute if you hadn't felt the exact same way.

Norman continued talking to you, much to your dismay. "I didn't see you come in earlier today. Where have you been?"

"Oh, I was just in my office, trying to pass the time until I came out here," you lied vaguely, gaze drifting off of his face over to Bendy's, who was snarling viciously at Norman behind his back.

"Really? But I didn't--"

"Look, Norman, I'd love to stay here and talk, but I really should get going before Joey comes over and gets me in trouble for not doing my job like the rest of the people here. So, if you'll just..." You shimmied past him and back into the crowd. "I'll see you!"

"Oh." A brief disconcerting look passed over the employee's before he replied back to your fleeing form. "Well, I'll see you too."

After that encounter, you completely ignored anyone who even gave the faintest hint of wanting to speak to you and continued dodging the people mulling around angrily. It was a relief to emerge from the crowd and slump into Bendy's arms, however smug he looked about it.

"Hi," he said in your ear, breath cool.

"Hi," you echoed back, pupils dilated and cheeks flushed. You hoped that no one could see you in the dark corner or if they could, then they weren't paying attention.

"So, did ya have fun in there?" He asked jokingly and nodded a horned head to the mob you had escaped.

Your hands splayed against the ink demon's chest. "No, I did not have fun, I barely got out with my life."

"I wonder what made 'em like this in the first place." Black eyes that danced like flames raked over the crowd, then back at you.

If you weren't so worried about someone seeing you then you would have slid your hands down much lower than the devil's chest. For now, you peeled yourself off of him, trying not to melt into a puddle on the ground. This was a real concern of Bendy's at the moment, too. Another mournful sob permeated the studio, jolting you both out of the stupor you fell into.

You remembered why you had forced your way over to Bendy in the first place and whispered, "Is that really Alice?"

"I think so," the cartoon demon replied in an equally hushed tone and narrowed his eyes. "Something's wrong."

Under any other circumstances, you would have hissed a nervous and sarcastic reply, but right now you shared Bendy's concern. If that really was Alice, then you would need to know right away. An unspoken agreement passed between the two of you and you followed Bendy, slinking out of the shadows and down the hall to wherever Alice was. The ink demon led for most of the trip, mainly because he knew his way around the workshop extremely well. You decided to not bring this up and instead silently listened for the sounds of an Angel in pain. As the two of you continued scampering down twists and turns and past locked offices, the sounds grew louder, until eventually, you burst into the small dead-end hallway where the angel was huddled and sobbing.

"Alice!" You spoke up, nearly tripping over Bendy as you stumbled forwards. "Alice, what's wrong?"

It was almost as if you were talking to a brick wall. Alice Angel continued to shake and heave, horned head between her knees. Her skinny arms were wrapped around her legs. She formed a tight ball in the corner, thinking that maybe if she made herself small enough, she would disappear. Bendy watched warily as you tried to approach the angel, then grudgingly decided to stand by your side again and match your slow pace. You held yourself back before crouching down right beside Alice and asked again, "What's wrong?"

The close proximity of your voice made her draw in a shaky breath. "I-I-I-It... I-I... Th-They..."

"Spit it out, Alice," said the ink demon beside you impatiently. You thumped him on the chest for his lack of tactic.

Surprisingly enough, this gave Alice Angel enough control to super out a few coherent words. She raised her head, revealing ink-stained cheeks, and heaved, "Th-They f-f-fired S-Susie!"

Then it was too much for the little angel to go on and she collapsed back down between her knees and continued to sob.

You were in shock with the sudden revelation. "Susie? Why would they fire Susie?"

A sidelong look was cast over to Bendy and he shrugged, not knowing the answer either. Faint concern and puzzlement traced his face but most of it was masked by cool indifference. Knowing that you were going to get nothing helpful out of the cartoon demon, you returned your gaze to Alice, who was a shuddering heap on the floor.

Before you could try to comfort her, however, footsteps came from behind you, and Boris entered the small dead end with the three of you, looking frazzled.

"Alice! Bendy! There you are!" He whined in relief, interrupting you. "I've been looking everywhere for you. Joey wants us in Susie's old office to greet the new worker and fast. He's not in a very good mood right now."

These words sent an electric shock through Alice and she began sobbing even harder. Finally, Boris noticed the little angel in the corner and his face melted from harassed to dripping concern.

Oh, great, Bendy thought, pulling you aside as the ink wolf approached the crying girl.

You also tried breaking free from the ink demon's grip on you to go comfort her as well but something made him tug you back. Even when you hissed at Bendy, he put a death grip around your waist and held your back to his chest and murmured, "Just look."

It wasn't like you had a say in the matter, what with the devil refusing to let go of you, so you exhaled sharply through your nose and rolled your eyes before accepting defeat. You had no clue why he just wanted you to watch but as Boris drew closer to the tearful angel on the floor, you had a sinking feeling that you were about to find out.

Alice didn't look up at her friend even when he kneeled beside her and started whispering something to try and make her feel better. It seemed like it was working, too, when her sobs weakened and she stopped shaking. You briefly wondered why Bendy kept you back but didn't have to think for long. As Boris was misled to believe that the angel was calming down, he held a hand out to her and instead of taking it, Alice spat at the wolf and raked her hand down his face.

Boris yelled and stumbled back in surprise, shifting settled dust motes and pawing at his face where Alice had lashed out at him.

"Oh my god," you whispered and didn't know whether to sink even further back into the ink demon holding you or to go assess the damage on Boris' features. The last choice won out over you and you wriggled out of Bendy's somewhat shocked grip to lean over to Boris. He whined and looked up at you, paw held to his cheek where a few angry black lines had formed. Alice began crying again in the background like nothing had happened.

"Boris, are you okay?" You urged him to speak, not knowing what to do for the scratches across his muzzle.

"I'm fine," his voice came out higher than usual like he was trying not to whimper. "I just wasn't expecting... that."

"I knew she was gonna do something, but I didn't think it would actually hurt you," came Bendy's input behind you.

He watched with flickering black eyes as you started to fuss over the marks Boris received from Alice and felt the faded scratches against his own cheek tingle. "Is Joey really looking for us?"

The ink wolf waved you off and straightened back up, casting nervous glances over at Alice's hunched shape. "I'm sure you heard about, er..."

A thin spade-like tail was flicked over towards the angel. "I sorta got that already."

"Yes, well, he wants us to introduce us to the new worker. Her name is Allison Pendle. But if Alice is, um, like... this... then I don't know how we're all going to be there. Joey won't like that."

"I don't care what Joey does or doesn't like. Just go tell him to keep his shit together and I'll take care of this."

Between the two ink characters, you turned to look up at Bendy with wide eyes as if to say, How do you plan on doing that, dumbass?

Boris apparently had the same question. "Are you sure that you're really up for that? You're not exactly..."

Cold amusement hardened the ink demon's voice as he examined the slash across Boris' face. "I think I can do a better job than you."

There was no argument for that. The wolf hung his head and lowered his ears, then scampered out of the hall, bushy tail tucked between his legs. Bendy watched him go and snorted once he was out of sight. He looked down at you.

"Now that aromantic bitch is gone, I can try fixing Alice. You can go if ya want. Whenever Joey fires someone, he always has a big meeting after, for company morale or something. If he's in a bad mood then I don't think you should miss it. Hopefully, he'll have it later today," his black eyes flashed along with long fangs. "I always love going to those things."

You weren't sure if you wanted to know what he meant by that. "Okay, then, good for you. Um, one thing, though..." You reached into the bag you had been carrying around and pulled out a couple of empty bottles.

Bendy pressed his tongue against the side of his cheek and raised an eyebrow at you.

"Um, since you took all of my ink and I don't have anymore and I wanted to start practicing animation at home again, I need some more, so I was wondering if you could, um..."

"You want me to steal ink from Joey because you're afraid of getting caught."

"No! Okay, well, yeah, but I wouldn't have to get more if you didn't use it all."

"Fine," he said and took the bottles with an exaggerated sigh. "Ya owe me for a lot, y'know that?"

"I'm the one who takes you out of the studio every damn week, and might I remind you that you barely held up your side of the bargain by not bothering me?"

"I taught you how to animate and kept Joey off your ass," The ink demon turned away to study the crumpled heap that was Alice and dismissed you. "Go to your office."

You huffed, "You don't tell me what to do," but stomped out of the hall nonetheless.

A few employees had made their way back to their own workspaces from the time you spent with Alice but there was still a decent amount of people left in the entry hall, being watched by an exasperated-looking Norman Polk. You stifled a laugh at his expression and hurried along to your office before he could stop you again. Luckily, no one you saw stopped to talk to you besides the occasional nod of greeting or wave. You even saw Shawn Flynn scowling while being led somewhere by Sammy, probably to Joey's office. You wondered what he did to look so pissed but didn't give yourself time to dwell on it. You went down the small hall to where your desk awaited you and settled down with a pen and sheet of paper.

Concentration is a bitch.

It was harder than ever for you to make the ink bleed on the paper. The smell of paper just reminded you of Bendy and if you tried using this as inspiration for your drawings then before you knew it, there was the real version of Bendy on the paper, with his hooked horns, glittering fangs, and narrow face instead of the usual soft cartoon form he was supposed to be in. If you tried pushing your thoughts away to let yourself be overrun by the mind-numbing sound of pen on paper, then your hand would start shaking so badly that you couldn't even hold your pen. You missed the days where you could forget about everything else and lock yourself away with your animations but there was also the ramifications of this escape. For one, you would be utterly alone again, and two, you didn't particularly miss being absolutely terrified of going to work because of a certain ink demon. Guilt washed over you as you realized how drastically your feelings towards him have changed. Who would have thought the asshole who dumped ink all over you and ruined all of your drawings would be able to wrap you around his fingers so easily just a few months later? There were no words to describe it but absolutely intoxicating. The feeling of a gloved hand slide under your chin, the overwhelming smell of paper and mint...

Your work sat forgotten at your desk as you stared at the wall and let your thoughts run away with you for the time being.

Not too long after, an unfamiliar and quite nervous looking girl stepped into your office hesitantly. You didn't even realize she was there until she spoke up and asked, "E-Excuse me, but are y-you (Y/N)?"

"I am," you jumped in your chair and replied, scanning her up and down and unsure what to make of her. You could infer that this was Allison Pendle, of course, but it was hard to imagine this girl voicing Alice.

The differences between her and Susie were striking. Allison seemed to be much more soft-spoken and malleable whereas Campbell was a quite imposing and outgoing presence. You wondered why Joey had swapped her out for the new voice actress.

You barely caught the next few words the new girl breathed. "Mr. Drew said that he wants us in the staffroom by the ink machine. He said that we're having a meeting. You can come with me, if you want."

"That would be nice," you agreed with an encouraging smile and stood up, making sure to cover up the numerous drawings of Bendy on your desk. "We can go now."

Allison flashed a nervous grin back and stared at her shoes as you followed her out of your little nook. You wondered what Joey would say. You had never been to a meeting before, even when you had started your internship. Hopefully, Bendy would be there...

That reminded you. "So... Did you meet, y'know..." You started taking to the new voice actress, not wanting to explicitly say the ink creatures' names if she didn't meet them yet.

The girl jumped in surprise at being talked to. "What, you mean..." Her eyes trailed over a nearby cutout of Bendy. "...them? I, um, y-yeah, I did. I didn't... It's really..."

Signs of a sensory overload began tracing Allison's features and she looked about ready to faint. Sympathy flooded through you.

Remembering your own first meeting with Bendy, Alice, and Boris, you glanced over at the girl and said, "Honestly, my first time meeting them wasn't great either. It was probably worse. I... I sorta threw an ink bottle at Bendy." The memory made your insides twist both with shame and laughter at recalling the look on the ink demon's face. "Joey had to keep me from ruining his entire office. Even after that, Bendy always seemed to hate me and singled me out whenever he was messing around." More guilt and desire swept over you, blurring your vision, and you struggled to regain control of yourself. "But you shouldn't worry. He's always too busy bothering me and I'll hate him enough for the both of us."

This greatly relaxed Allison, shown by her shoulders slumping and tense face loosening. Though you both had settled into a silent pace, her steps were lighter for the rest of the way to the meeting. Once the two of you were at the door leading down to the employee breakroom, you purposefully kept your eyes off of the ink machine and stepped in. Joey was there standing on the stairs, along with what seemed to be every worker at the studio sitting at the desks below his watchful gaze. Allison and you then parted ways with a dip of her head and a wave from you after scampering down the stairs past Joey. Before choosing a place to settle down, you scanned the tops of everyone's head to search for a pair of long, black horns. There was a couple of ears at the table right underneath Joey and a dim halo in the darkest corner of the room but no demon. Bitter disappointment soured your expression and you picked the table furthest away from Joey. Wally Franks sat there with a few other people. Misinterpreting your face for resentment at having to go to a meeting, Wally smiled at you and offered you the seat beside him. You took it with grudging thanks and sat slumped in the chair, baleful eyes scrutinizing Joey's supreme reign over his studio workers and hoping that the door behind him would allow Bendy to burst in, holler about being late, then nearly fall down the stairs.

It didn't happen.

More disappointment settled into the pit of your stomach and Joey starting his little meeting didn't help.

"Alright, so it looks like everyone is here," he said in an offhanded yet pleasant voice. "So, first off, everyone say hello to our new employee, Allison Pendle."

A broken chorus of "Hello, Allison," was chanted obediently, with a few "Hey"s here and there and you swore you even heard one person say "'Sup."

The head animator looking down on the crowd caught this too, apparently, because he gave them a disdainful look but couldn't seek out who had decided to drop their mask of formality. Instead, he continued on after the brief pause as if nothing had happened. "Alright, then. I just wanted to take this time to remind you all of this company's goals and teach them to our newest addition..."

You were already about to die from boredom. Absent thoughts swam in and out of your head, ranging from how you guessed Bendy's forked tongue would feel between your thighs to wondering if you could make Joey go mute somehow. These little blips in your mind came and went, came and went, came and went, until you decided to look up from your fingernails to Joey out of your hazy vision.

All traces of boredom vanished from you. An almost giddy smile spread across your face.

There was Bendy, standing right behind his creator, imitating almost everything he was doing with a stupid grin. He caught your eye and his grin grew wider. You felt your heart skip a beat. Only a few other workers had noticed the ink demon's exaggeration of Joey's gestures behind him and they obviously couldn't tell if they should be laughing or seething. On one hand, it was absolutely hilarious to see Bendy's stupid, endearing, cute, dumbass jokes, and on the other, it was, well, Bendy. It was getting increasingly harder not to burst out in a fit of giggles at your boss' ignorance. More workers began noticing and the murmurs from below Joey until he himself realized that there was something wrong. A few of your fellow coworkers couldn't take it anymore when Bendy mimicked his confused expression, likening it to shock and pretended to faint, and burst out laughing. Another cog in the animator's head turned as he found out that they weren't looking at him, they were looking at something behind him. More laughter sounded as Drew whipped around to face an extremely self-satisfied Bendy.

"Heya," the ink demon called out loudly, eyes half-lidded.

Joey then hissed something furious and low at him and sent him down the steps to where everyone sat or stood, hoping to get rid of the nuisance once and for all. It didn't work. As soon as he began talking once more, Bendy purposefully stumbled around and tripped people.

"Oops!" He mocked with a devilish grin after tripping Shawn Flynn. "I'm SO sorry I made you FALL and interrupt this HORRIBLY IMPORTANT SPEECH." Glimmering black eyes gazed up at Joey Drew, who was practically fuming. "REALLY sorry, keep talking, I'm sure everyone LOVES it."

Shawn wasn't sure to look amused or angry at this.

After that, the ink demon swept a pile of papers off of a table with his tail ("SUPER sorry for interrupting AGAIN"), tripped and caused a group of workers to fall like dominoes ("Oh, WOW, did NOT see THAT coming, SORRY") and sent a cluster of employees away squealing with just one amused glance. It was funny to those who weren't being targeted. Eventually, the ink demon scared Wally out of his seat beside you and stole it, looking quite pleased with himself as he met Joey's frustrated stare and almost dared him to go on. Only when he was sure the carton devil had enough mischief for the time being did he continue his pointless speech.

Meanwhile, for all of their laughing at him, everyone left at your table cringed and looked away from Bendy the moment he sat down. You would have simply glared at them all and thought more for yourself, then pressed your lips against the ink demon's softly, but you were entirely aware of Joey's sharp eyes on all of his employees and Alice Angel sitting silently in the corner behind you, glaring daggers at the entire audience. Allison Pendle also watched you and Bendy from across the room, assessing the dynamic between you two after what you had told her. You were unaware of this extra set of eyes on you and instead focused on Bendy's tail, which was curled and swaying slightly behind him.

"Hi," he whispered in your ear, making you jump.

"H-Hi," you choked back and wrung your wrists. "Where were you?"

"Getting your ink, like you told me to. Why, did ya miss me?"

"No, I didn't, you just said that you liked going to these and I was wondering why you weren't here."

"I just like cutting Joey off and making him pissed. Also, I'm late because Sammy wouldn't hop off my ass and I was trying to take care of Alice."

A brief shadow flitted over your face and your insides twisted.

God, were you jealous over a fucking angel?

Bendy noticed the look you gave briefly before wiping your face clean of any emotions, then noted it for future reference with an internal smirk. On the outside, he remained as cool as ever and continued talking nonchalantly. "I can't fix her, though, she's as pissed as ever and has it out for Boris and Joey now. And probably me. But Alice probably has it out for everyone at this point. Also, I put your ink on your desk. Promise I didn't spill or take any."

That wasn't what you were worried about. You were panicking over him being in your office with the possibility of seeing your various drawings. However, he seemed like his normal douchebag self, not being completely horrible to you, so you shoved away your anxiety and listened to him rant about the childish way Alice was acting for the rest of the meeting.

When the session was over, the ink demon nearly tripped over himself as he scurried after you to your office. Someone in a group down the hall even called Bendy out on this, yelling, "Chasing after (Y/N), huh?!"

This was much to the amusement of your co-workers and your own embarrassment. You recognized the accent of Shawn Flynn (who had probably spoken up in revenge for being knocked over), then Bendy's bad-tempered hiss, and the shrieks of the crowd as the ink demon decided to pursue them instead. It was hard not to laugh at their expense but you managed to keep your lips sealed tightly as you went all the way back to your office, alone.

In the absence of Bendy, you took the chance to stuff your stack of drawings into your bag along with the ink bottles he so kindly fetched for you. You didn't have much alone time, however; the ink demon himself then stomped angrily into your office with fresh ink over his hands.

Without looking over, you stated, "You have the right to get out of my office."

"You have the right to kiss my dick," he retorted and slumped beside you.

You finally turned and glanced at the stains and his disgruntled expression, cocked an eyebrow, and asked, "What exactly did you to them?"

"I cornered them by Sammy's office and burst a pipe over their heads. Now move, I'm sitting down."

"Can't you get your own chair?"

"Nope."

You sighed, scooted over, and let the ink demon try to teach you how to make your animations more realistic while scolding the inner voice that told you to curl up into his side and fall asleep.

In fact, you had almost fallen asleep by the time you had to leave. After much whining on your part and Bendy pushing you off of the chair to the floor, you grudgingly agreed to go home.

"I don't think you're coming with me tonight, right?" You assumed and rubbed your aching head.

"Nope. I told you, Joey always stays the night on Saturday and anyway, I should probably watch Alice before she tears out someone's eyes."

That same expression from earlier passed over your face but left just as quickly. "She's really not happy about Susie, huh," you observed blandly and stretched.

"No. But you don't seem too happy about me staying with her, either," the ink demon ventured, trying not to smirk.

You glared at him from the corner of your eye. "What are you trying to say."

"What I'm trying to say is that you should stop acting the way you are about her because you shouldn't worry." He paused to yawn as if the situation bored him. "She likes girls."

You watched his forked tongue curl, your absentminded thoughts from Drew's meeting returning to you with a shiver. "What?"

"Alice likes Susie. That's why she's gone ballistic over her getting fired and why you should stop being like that. She's sorta like a sister to me. A very annoying, whiny, little sister. I wanna kill her sometimes, especially right now."

The statement about Alice and Susie came as news to you but you just blinked and asked. "And you're telling me this why?"

An amused and toothy grin was flashed towards you from your chair. "I think you can guess. See ya tomorrow, (Y/N)."

Bendy then chucked your bag to you and hooted at the wheezing sound you made as it collided with your stomach. After your eyes stopped streaming and you took a break from cursing furiously at him, the ink demon's grin slid off his face. His mouth felt dry suddenly and the expectant look you were giving him didn't help.

He opened his jaw, closed it, then opened out again only to mutter "See ya" and hurry away from your general vicinity.

You were both disappointed and amused by his exit and followed suit, being shepherded out of the studio with mobs of workers excitedly discussing the day's events, from Susie getting fired to Bendy hunting down Shawn Flynn and his group down the halls. Before they could discuss what had made the ink demon snap and chase him down, you made a beeline for your car, hot embarrassment trickling down your back.

No one interrupted your drive home, much to your relief. Though you didn't have time to worry about it today, you were still extremely anxious about whatever the college douche had planned and you were glad that the storm brewing on the horizon would break another day.

It was quiet in your house. The absence of the ink demon that usually accompanied you sent sharp pains through your heart, so you filled it by putting your new ink to good use and making pointless drawings of the tears of an angel, a grinning demon, and inky blood dripping off of a wolf's muzzle.

When you finally set aside these drawings and went upstairs, your sleep was fitful and filled with images of a recurring black stained blade, sparks flying from a metal table, and a hybrid angel screaming as perfection slipped between her fingers. You woke up with a start multiple times in the middle of the night but whenever you tried addressing these horrifying visions, they faded from memory, leaving nothing but the smell of fear and sweat. You vaguely recalled a Bendy cutout appearing in one of your dreams before the memory disappeared.

With a sleepy sigh, you settled into your covers once more and murmured, "I hope Alice is okay..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yup, pretty long chapter, huh? I didn't even really edit it so I'm sure it's riddled with mistakes but I'll check it later, don't yell at me...
> 
> Well, if my grades don't suck, that is. I'm still clinging onto the hope that they don't.
> 
> So, as I've said before, I'm not too excited about anything besides next chapter, so forgive me for sounding disenchanted. UGH, I can't WAIT!
> 
> All the more reasons to pray for my grades!
> 
> I'm really anxious about this as you can tell...
> 
> Besides my anxiety, I wanted to say thank y'all so much for the support. Words cannot express my gratitude for you guys giving me something to look forward to when I wake up and check the comments, then go home and write. It means the world to me.
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this half-assed long chapter and I hope you stick around for the next.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	16. Pools

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We sip the wind through lips of lust and out it comes, warm wisps of love. I smile because I want to; I smile because you want to.
> 
> Put the flowers in your hair, wrap your tendrils round my chest. I smile because I want to; I am your boy.
> 
> Shake my little soul for you now, toy, and I settle up into a world of noise.
> 
> I'm a man of many tricks and tools and joy with a battery of guilt on which to poise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back today for what is now my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE chapter!
> 
> So, my grades were good! Thank god...
> 
> Now that I don't have to worry about anything until I start studying for my SAT next month, let's talk about this chapter.
> 
> I didn't really edit anything because, well, I'm just SUPER excited. Everyone is gonna be so HAPPY and then ANGRY and I LOVE IT.
> 
> I'm really excited.
> 
> So, sorry about not really picking through this one but I just couldn't wait. Shawn and Thomas know what's up, Joey is an ass, I love Bendy, at cetera.
> 
> I really hope you enjoy because this is my fave and it just... mmm.
> 
> MmmmMmmMMMMMMM
> 
> I CAN'T
> 
> I gotta start getting ready to run away at the end of this chapter so please, read on and enjoy while my bunker is being prepared. 
> 
> Also, I know I never said this before, but go check out the song I put as the summary for this chapter. I'm literally only saying because it's by my favorite band. Pools by Glass Animals.
> 
> It's great.
> 
> *starts packing bunker* Enjoy!

Faint images of inky blades and deformed puddles haunted you all throughout the night. Daylight failed to chase away both the premonitions and aching tiredness, leaving you sluggish, unprepared for the new dawn breaking overhead. It was quite early in the morning when you had awoken and once you realized that sleep would not come back to you, you unfurled yourself from a ball underneath the covers and dragged your half-awake self over to the bathroom to make yourself at least somewhat presentable to the world. That was a real chore, considering the haggard reflection the mirror gave you. A complete mess on top of your head that could barely be considered hair, baggy, bloodshot eyes, morning breath, and many other undesirable features came together to make you a total wreck.

Even now, after you had cleaned yourself up, you were still drained and had a ghastly look to you. At the moment, you were sitting at your dining room table, peering out the window, a hot drink sitting in your hands and your breakfast staring up at you, untouched. Birds chirped in the warm light of the rising sun and swooped over the land in search for their own meal. A peculiar little avian crouched in your front porch, however, watching the other winged creatures with apprehension. Sympathy flooded through you. It was never fun being left on the outside if you were perceived as weak or unfit. You almost decided to go out onto the porch and feed it yourself but reasoned that you would probably scare the living daylights out of the avian and anyway, it was just a bird. You shouldn't be having an existential crisis over a bird.

With a sigh, you began picking halfheartedly at your food, remembering that you had enough to worry about without contemplating the social habits of birds, as well. The main thing on your mind was Bendy, of course, but when was he not? Another few pressing matters were Alice and college douchebag. It seemed like Alice was the most important of the two but you couldn't shake off the foreboding feeling you got when thinking of the college boy and his eerie threat. Sure, he was the last person to be capable of coming up with a sinister and complicated plan (he simply lacked the brain cells for it) but in a way, that made him even more dangerous. There was no telling what crazy stunt he would pull off and you were quite sure it wouldn't involve the usual things guys did to get girls' attention. Thinking about made you long for the ink demon who usually sat in front of you and interrogated you about your diet.

Then you kicked yourself.

You most certainly did not need to hide behind a big bad devil and you were not going to reduce yourself to a helpless little girl who looks like one good gust of wind could knock her over. That's absolutely pitiful. Angry with yourself for wanting this, you looked away from the window and began picking at your food bad-temperedly.

It was still early by the time you finished your early morning rituals. This time around, you didn't want to be early to the studio, so you tried busying yourself with laundry and other monotonous chores. You even ventured into the empty room that belonged to Bendy and pulled out all of the clothes there, trying not focus too much on particular articles of clothing. After putting everything in your washer, you decided that you could fold it when you got home later today and then went on to straighten up any stray objects in your house. Except for in Bendy's room. That was a trainwreck you didn't even want to begin to understand.

Luckily, the task held you out until it was time to leave. Anxiety bubbled up inside of you but it was for reasons other than Alice and your foreboding neighbor. It was just the pure and simple fact of being able to see Bendy again. The drive to the city was much better this time around, most likely because they had completed or were close to finishing up the work being done. Maybe it would make your town a better place because it certainly was not the greatest show on Earth at the moment. Between the rundown buildings and shady figures, it was a wonder the city could even support itself. It was almost depressing. When you had fled your hometown after graduating, this place was the first to open its arms to you with the promise of low rent and a new job. It was the only stroke of luck you ever had.

Now thoroughly saddened, you parked across the street to Joey Drew Studios, dodged cars on your way to the entrance, and slipped inside the dark workshop to leave the busy road behind you. The entry room was empty but you could hear voices distantly in the studio, telling you that you weren't the only one who had arrived. Disappointment at not being greeted by a cheeky ink demon faded when the said character materialized from a nearby hallway, muttering to himself with his tail flicking nervously. Then, looking over, he saw you and let his furrowed brow and gritted teeth melt into a stupid grin. You couldn't help it. You smiled back.

The ink demon padded over and surprisingly enough, pulled you against his chest and murmured, "Heya."

"Um, h-hi...?" You squeaked back uncertainly, though not complaining.

He let go of you and cast another half-smile down at you.

You wanted to ask _Who are you and what did you do with Bendy?_ but it came out as, "How's Alice?"

"Fine. Well, not really, but she can be in the same room as Boris without trying to kill him even if she won't talk to him. Or anybody, really. She still goes absolutely hysterical if you mention Susie or Joey and Sammy just looked at her once and she went nuts." Bendy conveniently left out the part about how Joey wanted to examine her again last night and how the ink demon begged him to let him take her place. "D'you wanna see her?"

"I guess...?"

"Alright. C'mon," he turned away and bounded down a nearby hall, forcing you to swiftly pursue him as he began throwing warnings at you over his shoulder. "Try not to ask her about things too much! If she doesn't answer, then leave her alone. That's Boris' problem, I think. I left him alone with her, so maybe he won't have his head ripped off by the time we get there. They're pretty far down into the studio and there's no way I'm taking you onto one of those elevators. D'you mind walking down a lot of stairs? Actually, wait, no, I don't care, you're doing it anyway."

You didn't directly address and answer everything Bendy had told you, so you just continued following him down staircases, by offices, through hallways, and past hordes of workers. A group of employees clustered near a few machines practically fell over themselves to get out of the way when they saw the ink demon approaching. Shawn Flynn was among these people and you could infer that this was the crowd Bendy had hunted down and drenched in ink yesterday. When they saw you following the cartoon closely, you offered a nervous grin and wave before sweeping through a door with Bendy. Their ogling eyes and incredulous expressions followed you out of the room and you could see the question burning through their minds: Why are you with him?

Before you lost sight of them, you saw Shawn's eyes narrow a fraction, then he was swept back into the sea of workers.

_Please don't let him put the pieces together._

Were you really being that obvious about how your feelings toward Bendy had done a complete one-eighty? The thought of someone finding out made your insides burn with shame and embarrassment and fear. There was no time to dwell on the imaginary, however. Bendy had led you past a massive collection of Alice Angel merchandise and up to a door you had never seen before, marked with the girl's name. With a blink at you that could be interpreted as reassuring, he opened the door and revealed a room with a mirror, desk, and two ink creatures sitting in the middle of it.

Alice's head was slightly hung and her usual dreamy expression had a dark shadow over it. It gave you the chills to see how dark the angel looked after only a day of change. Boris, on the other hand, was trying to look as pleasant and friendly as possible, though he still sat a respectable distance away from Alice with partially lowered ears.

Bendy snorted at his face and noted, "Great, so you didn't die. Congratulations."

The ink wolf looked offended. "No, I didn't, and I don't see how that's relevant to anything. What I really want to know is why you brought her here." Realizing he sounded a bit accusatory to you from your stung expression, he gave a soft smile to you and said, "Not that I don't want you here but I think that Alice doesn't really want to be, ah, visited, at the moment."

"Cool, could'ja tell that Alice also really wanted to tear your face off yesterday? That's really impressive," Bendy mocked, slightly blocking you from the wolf's searching gaze.

A dark gray blush bloomed over Boris' face. "N-No, but--"

"But nothing."

"You can't just dismiss me! You chase everyone else away and don't even let them look in our general direction but if (Y/N) comes by then, well, let's just drag her around everywhere."

"Shut up."

"You're extremely obvious."

"Shut up!"

"You know my feelings on this."

"Shut up! She just wanted to see Alice, okay?!

A forceful push put you on the spotlight in front of the said angel and the two other seething ink creatures. Boris looked up at you expectantly and you felt like your throat was closing up.

"Um, yeah, I just wanted to make sure she's okay," you said, wrenching your eyes from the wolf and onto the hunched over angel. "How are you, Alice?"

Instead of answering, she looked up at you with milky black pools that seemed to flicker with the emotions she had wiped from her face. Pity twisted your insides and you only just realized how horrible the situation she was in was. One of the only people she ever really cared about was forcefully removed from her life, the other two were constantly at each other's throats, and now that you thought about it, it couldn't be easy to have her sexuality. You don't judge and as much as he loved making fun of people, neither did Bendy. Boris would like Alice however she was. Joey, now, you couldn't guess that. If you were basing his acceptance rate off of your perspective then you would be sure that he would care about Alice just as much as he already seems to but another voice denied that theory. In fact, it denied that Joey ever cared about the ink creatures.

While you were busy reconsidering your view on life, Boris and Bendy had decided to start arguing once more.

"Why don't you just leave us alone?!" the ink wolf howled over Bendy's hissing. "Alice and I will be fine without you if you're just going to be chasing after--"

"Shut up! As far as I'm concerned, you're both pieces of shit. Yeah. I can prove it mathematically. Actually, lemme grab my whiteboard. This has been a long time coming, anyway..." The ink demon made a move to the door.

Noticing this, you rose out of your pool of thoughts and blocked his exit, saying, "Hey, don't act like that over nothing. I'm sure you're helping. If it really matters that much, I can just leave now that I saw Alice. Just stop acting stupid and I'll go."

Bendy stared at you as he snapped over towards the wolf beside Alice, though it was with a slightly softened tone since he was looking at you. "Now look what'cha did. You're makin' her leave."

"Once again, no offense, but she wasn't even supposed to be here in the first place." Another set of eyes fixated on you. "I'm sorry, (Y/N), but you really should leave. Not only because of Alice but Joey won't be happy if you have no work to show for today. So, Bendy, stop distracting her."

"Stop distracting her," the ink demon echoed nastily and shot a furious look behind him to Boris, then relaxed slightly before addressing you again. "Sorry he's chasin' ya out, but before you go, I got something for you."

You watched warily as the cartoon turned under the wolf's sharp gaze and made his way over to Alice's desk, tail tip twitching angrily. His back shielded whatever he was doing and when he turned over to you again, he kept his hands behind him and head tilted high under Boris' stare.

Before you had a chance to speak up, the ink demon shoved something against your stomach and stated ungraciously, "Here."

Almost out of breath, you looked down at whatever he was trying to give you and held it.

It was one of those plush toys you were bothering him about a couple of nights ago. The ink demon let go of the toy the moment you grabbed it like it was the plague.

"You actually got me one?" You asked with wonder as you held the small version of the devil in front of you up to your face.

Bendy didn't answer and gave you a sour expression.

"Oh, yeah, right, I guess you obviously did," you answered your own question a bit goofily, then grinned up at the unamused ink demon, letting your voice go soft. "Thank you."

"Yeah, well..." He hissed in a low tone, uncomfortably aware of Boris' eyes getting narrower by the second. "You should go before I take it back."

With one last half-smile, you waved at Boris, said goodbye to Alice, refrained from pressing your lips against Bendy's, and left.

"You made her fall in love with you," came a quiet voice from behind Bendy once you were gone.

"I didn't make her do anything," the demon snapped back at Boris and swiftly rounded on him. "So shut up."

"You're making mistake."

"I am a mistake. Be quiet." A creak came from the chair by Alice's desk and mirror as Bendy slumped into it, rolling his eyes.

"I told you, you shouldn't have gone home with her and what did you do you went home with her that's what and now it's pretty obvious that you're both disgustingly infatuated I told you--"

Most of the ink wolf's ranting became background noise as Bendy shut his eyes and began planning on how he was going to make Joey pay for the sad, sad look on Alice Angel's face.

In the meantime, you bounced down the halls and up the stairs to your office, clutching the gift Bendy gave you and hoping Shawn Flynn or Sammy Lawrence wouldn't pop out to interrogate you on where you had been (though for both very different reasons).

Your prayers were heard and no one interrupted you on your way to your workspace. It was one of the very few and nominal strokes of luck you had but you would relish this one. Besides, it gave you more time to at least try and make some animation without Bendy's help or being hopelessly lost in thought. Maybe not that last part. These days, it seemed like you were always wandering around in your own head, exploring the twists and turns and resurfacing with an even less clear comprehension of yourself. It was maddening.

Trying not to sigh or sneeze from the dust, you hauled yourself down the last hallway and settled into your little nook. That visit was Alice was absolutely meaningless unless you wanted to see Bendy and Boris arguing for some reason or another. She looked lonelier than ever with the two squabbling with her in the middle. That could be why she always decided to give all her time to Susie because wherever Bendy went, trouble followed. You had personal experience with that. Then again, it was the only reason why you hadn't killed yourself already.

Mind running around in circles, you placed your new Bendy plush on your desk, sat down, pulled out a pen, and placed it onto a fresh sheet of paper, trying not to think of how the intoxicating smell reminded you of Bendy.

You had but a few hours in the world of ink blots and moving pictures, only reawakening when the screams in the background became much more noticeable. With an annoyed sigh, you slammed your pen down on your half-finished animation and pulled away from your desk.

"What the hell is that?" you asked yourself, then figuring that there was only one way to find out, you rose from your seat and dragged yourself to the main hallway, stretching along the way.

A few people scrambled past, salvaged papers and instruments in their hands. They didn't acknowledge your wide-eyed ogling as they passed by and cast nervous glances over your shoulder. A sinking feeling that usually accompanied an antic of Bendy's overtook you, urging you to slink towards what the workers were running from. More people ran past, usually with ink splatters on their panicked faces, escaping the prosecution descending upon them. Allison Pendle was among the latest group and was the only person who noticed you.

"(Y/N)!" she called out, eyes as huge as moons. "I-I don't think you should go that way!"

"Why not?" you halted and inquired, hoping for an answer to the mass pandemonium.

"Um, the entire floor, it was, uh, f-flooded," the girl gasped back and paused with you.

"Bendy?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Goddammit," you muttered so that the new voice actress wouldn't hear you, then spoke up, "Okay, that's fine, I got it! Just try and stay as far away as possible from him, okay?"

Her flickering optics made it seem like she wanted to say more but she simply stared up at you, nodded, then continued away in the opposite direction.

Now practically steaming, you pressed onwards to the floor Bendy had flooded, wondering just how bad it was if he managed to drive away everyone from their offices. You didn't have to imagine for long. A pool of ink stretched out in a few hallways down, creating something similar to a black river, and there in the center was Bendy, grinning at nothing in particular.  Well, until he saw you. Then his eyes lit up and his grin grew even wider.

"Heya!" he called out to you and waved, almost knee deep in the ink. "Whaddya doin' around here?"

"Goddammit Bendy!" you yowled back and searched for a way to get closer to him without being drenched in ink.

"What?"

"You know exactly what! Do you think I wanna have to take care of this?"

"Well, actually, you're not! See, I exceeded expectations, so this repair is well beyond what you can fix. Joey's just makin' a call while I'm over here having my own lil' Boston Tea Party."

A stray soaked paper floated past over the ink, proving his point.

"What do you know about the Boston Tea Party," you sneered accusingly, dodging splatters of ink. As you made your way closer to the ink demon, you could hear the roaring of ink as it gushed out of the pipes overhead and the Ink Machine groaning under the stress.

"(Y/N), I'm American, of course I know about the Boston Tea Party."

"Who was the commander of the Continental Army?"

"George Washington. Please don't insult my intelligence."

"What was the turning point of the Revolution?"

"Battle of Saratoga, 1777. What am I, twelve?"

"You act like it."

A laugh burst out of him and he lashed his tail. "You should come over here!"

"No."

"It's warm, I promise."

You grimaced and wrinkled your nose. "That is disgusting."

Another laugh. "Just do it, I'm bored, and I gotta make the most of it before Joey calls who I think he's calling 'n ruins the fun."

"This is not fun, and who's he calling?"

"An asshole."

"It doesn't look like he's calling you."

"Ha, ha, you're so funny, ever consider being a standup comedian?"

"I should, considering my entire life is a joke."

"Aw, that's depressing even for me."

"At least I have a life, though."

"You're always so mean to me."

"Bendy, I'm not the one standing in the middle of a hallway they flooded!"

"That mean you'll finally come over here with me?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"...please?"

"No!"

"Just do it, 'm pretty sure it's washable anyway."

"That's not what I'm concerned about, Bendy."

"That's not what I'm concerned about, (Y/N)!" he mocked in a singsong voice.

That was it. You argued with the ink demon from across the hall for who knows how long, Bendy trying to find new and creative ways to pull you into the ink with him while you continued rejecting his attempts and let the warm fluttery feeling spreading throughout your body engulf you in a hot wave. You had your jaw hung open in the breath of a stinging retort to his latest scheme but before you could utter a single syllable, a voice behind you spoke up.

"Excuse me, but who are you?" It was a male's voice, obviously, deep and slightly hoarse, but it had the sound of once being very rich before succumbing to exhaustion.

Jumping, you whipped around to face the newcomer, while Bendy snarled behind you incredulously, "Oh, god, Joey _actually_ called you?"

The man looked over your shoulder at the ink demon and snapped, "Yes, Joey actually called me," then back over at you he said, "Hello. Thomas Connor. Used to work for Joey but now I'm part of my own company."

Over the growing growls of Bendy behind you, Thomas added politely with an outstretched hand, "And who are you?"

"Oh, um, I'm (Y/N)," you informed him shyly and took his hand. "I work here. Well, actually I just volunteer here on the weekend."

The man's eyes flashed at this. "So, Joey's still doing that volunteer program, huh?"

"Yes...?" You answered unsurely, glancing over your shoulder to where Bendy was watching the two of you in exasperation at being ignored.

Thomas laughed at your confused expression and explained, "Yeah, Drew started putting out an ad to recruit some extra help around the studio not too long before I left. I only got to see two interns before I went out on my own but it looks like Joey kept the routine up. How long have you been working here?"

"Since fall. How long ago did you work here?"

Before the repairman could reply, Bendy began splashing around in the ink bad-temperedly, hissing at the lack of attention. Thomas then cut off his reply to you and stepped closer to the river of ink where the devil was standing.

"So, Joey still keeps you around, does he," the man observed in distaste. "Last time I saw you, you were just a runty little thing."

"More than you can say since you're the one who left," Bendy sneered back. "And last time I saw you, you were just a stuck up asshole. Oh, wait! You still are. Sorry, it was hard to tell."

Instead of becoming absolutely infuriated like you would if you were in his shoes, Thomas just laughed at the cartoon and replied, "Charming as ever, too." The repairman spared a sideways glance towards you once he began advancing upon the flooded hall. "Come on, you can keep me company while I fix this leak. Must be pretty bad if Joey called me. (Y/N), was it?"

"Uh, yeah," you confirmed and watched unsurely as Thomas Connor began wading through the ink with a nasty look at Bendy.

The ink demon twisted his face and stuck his tongue out in return.

Not wanting to be left behind, you swallowed your doubt and pressed onwards behind the repairman, giving Bendy a half-smile when you passed. That one gesture passed on your uncertainty to him like the plague. For a moment, the cartoon watched the two of you slowly move further away, then, gritting his sharp teeth, he hurried after you and nearly tripped over himself a few times in the shallow ink. It wasn't shallow for long. Soon, at about the time Bendy made it to your side, it lapped up at your knees, strangely warm and thick. An involuntary shudder wracked your body and you kept yourself from leaning into Bendy with the knowledge that he was the cause of all of this. The only sound was the groans coming from the stained Ink Machine on the floor above and the steadily increasing volume of a waterfall-like noise. It became almost deafening and right when you thought you couldn't bear it anymore, you entered another hall where ink was pouring out of a line of pipes in a torrential downpour. Nothing Bendy had done before had compared to this.

Apparently, some of your shock must have appeared on your face, because the ink demon beside you leaned over and murmured in your ear, "I think I really outdid myself this time."

"You think so?!" You whispered back furiously, confused by the sickening feeling of ink splashing against your calves, your surprise at the amount of damage done, and just how close Bendy was leaning into you.

"Yup. Look, poor guy doesn't know what to do with himself," the demon pointed Thomas's dumbfounded expression out to you but it was quickly replaced by one of steely determination.

"Alright. Alright, alright," he chanted, mostly to himself, and turned around. "I'll be back. You stay here and make sure that _thing_ doesn't ruin anything else. Have to lower the pressure and get some tools..."

With that note and an encouraging, weary smile at you, Connor began wading away again. Only when he was completely out of sight did Bendy look at you again. A goofy grin was plastered across his face and his black optics glittered.

"So, you gonna keep on eye on this thing?" he purred, tail swaying behind him.

"God, don't make this weird," you said and stared determinedly at the flooded floor.

"I'm not making anything weird," he insisted in a quite pleased tone at your reaction. "I'm just bored and it's no fun when people clean up my messes. You wanna break more pipes with me?"

"Absolutely not."

"Why? It's fun. C'mon, do something fun with me, please?"

_That could be taken one of two ways_. "Bursting pipes is not fun. In fact, I'd probably lose my job. Is that what you want? For me to end up like Susie?"

"First off, you're nowhere near as hysterical as Susie, 'n second off, it's not like Joey has eyes everywhere. I promise you'll have fun."

"Things that are fun for you aren't exactly fun for me. For example, I don't really enjoy throwing rocks at cats." To prove your point, you faintly traced a hand over where the black scratches had lined the ink demon's face.

It was a struggle for Bendy to keep his eyes from fluttering at the ghost of touch and he distracted himself by retorting, "Well, I don't need ya anyway. I can find some other way to spend my time."

"Really," you said offhandedly and leaned against the wall behind you. "Then do that."

"Fine," Bendy stepped a pace back from you and snorted, melting slightly. "It's basically like a pool for me, anyway. A really shallow one, though," he added as an afterthought while the ink that composed him became less and less defined.

"That is _disgusting_ ," you told him as he slowly melted further into the floods.

"To each their own, (Y/N)," was the last gurgled statement from the dark puddle before it became one with the ink.

_Gross_ , you thought and glared down at where he had disappeared. If your guesses were right, then he would probably reform soon right in front of you just to scare you.

He didn't.

You waited a bit longer before kicking at the surface of the thick liquid and calling out, "Bendy? Bendy, whatever you're doing, it's not funny, stop messing around."

"C'mon, it's hilarious," a voice from down the hall answered, making you jump and spin around to see the ink demon standing there, reformed and grinning. "It's funny to see the faces you make."

"How can you even see when you're a literal _puddle_ ," you hissed back embarrassedly and watched in exasperation as Bendy melted back down with his signature beam traced over his face the entire decomposition.

Most of the time without Thomas Connor was wasted by Bendy trying to find better arguments for why you should burst pipes with him or ways of irritating you, whether it be him reappearing directly behind you or incessant whining; when there's a will there's a way. This time was also spent ignoring the tingling, lightheaded, constant swooning sensations that swept over the both of you.

Bendy then suddenly reappeared near you while you were looking for him again and you acknowledged, "Look. You're small."

He had accidentally come up as the three-foot tall devil that perfectly matched the version of himself in the cartoons. Looking down at himself after your comment, he said, "Oh," then morphed back into the tall, skinny, almost human demon that you had gotten used to. "That was an accident."

"It was weird," you sniffed and eyed the ink demon early as he grinned and splashed back over to you. "I thought you liked being tall."

"I do, but sometimes I forget that I can be tall," he replied, still beaming stupidly, then stood so that the space between you was limited.

"So, did you like your little Boston Tea Party?" You asked with half-lidded eyes as you gazed up at him.

"Mhmm," he replied, a faint purr rumbling in the back of his throat and smile fading into a smirk. What little space there was between you two suddenly closed and you tried to keep your face from burning and legs from shaking. The ink demon continued purring as he rested his chin on your shoulder and said, "No animation without representation."

"God, you're a fucking dork," your reply came out as a breathy laugh and you splayed your hands against his chest and tilted your head slightly (definitely not exposing your neck on purpose).

"I know," Bendy murmured back and shut his eyes, keeping himself from moaning at the feeling of you being pressed flush against him, drinking in the intoxicating smell with slightly parted lips.

Before he could press them against your exposed neck and then catch your mouth with his own, a distant sloshing noise approached, and he barely had time to jump off of you before Thomas Connor rounded the corner.

He looked like he was about to speak but before he uttered a single word, the repairman narrowed his eyes dangerously at the two of you. It was hard to seem like you had been doing nothing but watching the ink demon especially since your nerves were already fried from him pinning you against the wall and grazing his fangs against your neck so faintly that they might as well have never been there. Whatever he might have seen, Thomas ignored it with a noncommittal shake off his head and began explaining to you how he had lowered the pressure, shown by the weakened flow of ink from the pipes, which in turn will make it easier to work.

If Bendy was just as frustrated as you, he didn't show it and instead decided to make fun of Thomas behind his back and toss whatever tool he reached for down the hall so he could go fetch it like a dog while the ink demon laughed nastily at his expense. By the time you had completed your chore, you thought that you would never get rid of the sensation of warm ink oozing between your calves and it seemed like your pants had its last goodbye. Thomas was nice enough to you before leaving, though.

While Bendy splashed around in what was left of the ink puddles on the floor with you overseeing this seemingly harmless activity, he cleared his throat and said, "Well, it was nice meeting you, (Y/N). Thank you for all your help today. I told myself I would never do another repair for Joey the day I left but I'm not too disappointed I came back."

"It's my pleasure," you replied, fear of him seeing you with Bendy earlier temporarily forgotten once you took his hand in a farewell shake. "I'm glad I had the chance of meeting you."

"Me too," he agreed, a trace of exhaustion disappearing from his voice. Then, looking over your shoulder at the ink demon who was flicking his tail angrily at the disappearing pools of ink, he glanced at you with a shadow covering his face. "Take care of yourself."

You nearly blanched at this warning, bright as day.

Bendy, sensing that there was something off about this goodbye, straightened up and loped over to your side. "You're finally leaving? Great. See ya."

A sour expression was spared for the lazily indifferent ink demon. "Yeah, I'm going. Before I leave, can you tell me if Shawn still works here?"

"Yeah. He still works with the toys but he's probably somewhere upstairs cowering with the other workers. Why? Ya still gay for him?"

"I never was in the first place."

"Okay."

With a sigh, Thomas rolled his eyes and made a move to walk away from the two of you. Before he left, however, he paused and scrutinized Bendy with the same narrow stare he had given you. "You're twenty now, right?"

"Yeah. Did you bring something for all those birthdays of mine you missed?"

Thomas ignored this and fixated his intelligent optics on you. "And how old are you?"

"E-Eighteen..."

A lifetime passed when he finally tore his gaze away from you. "Hm. Alright, then. Maybe I'll see you both some other time, but for now, goodbye."

"Bye," you said softly to the disappearing form of Thomas Connor, who had decided to take another route out.

At your side, Bendy hollered a jovial "See ya!" then dragged you in the opposite direction where you had come from, saying, "C'mon, we have the entire rest of the day for me to keep teaching you how to animate and plus, Joey's not gonna be too happy about my mess, so I wanna stay away from him until we can go home."

The two of you made it to your office many staircases and twisting hallways later. There, Bendy threatened to tear apart the stuffed plush he got you earlier that day, bring in Alice so she can give you the same treatment as Boris, and tried to push you off of your chair. Typical Bendy antics. What was atypical about this was the feelings rushing underneath his inky black skin whenever he recalled your flushed face and trembling legs from earlier. He was almost positive that you returned those damned feelings for him but how he was supposed to act upon it, he had no idea. Both his usual tricks and trying to work in some kind of moment had failed, usually due to outside forces. It was almost as painful as the things Joey put the ink entities through. Speaking of Joey, it was almost time for you to check out with your boss and give him your work from the weekend. You yawned, interrupted the ink demon's tirade on using charcoal pencils, and gathered up the work you had to show to drag it out to wherever Joey was lurking.

Bendy waited quite impatiently for your return, bouncing his leg, tapping his long fingers, glaring at the plush version of him on your desk. Nearly an eternity passed before you crawled back into your office, still yawning with a fresh bill crumpled in one of your fists. The ink demon decided to drag you around again much to your dismay. It was only when you hissed and spat at the grip on your wrist did he let go and melt nervously into a puddle to pursue you out of the studio. You didn't know why he was so eager tonight but you guessed it had to do with the stress of "fixing" Alice Angel. Hopefully, Boris would be able to deal with her this week.

Other than Alice, you understood wholeheartedly about being stressed. Though you didn't want to admit it, you were still being slowly eaten alive by the college boy's threat and you were worried about Alice, too. That and the addition of Bendy being more confusing than ever made for a very unhappy you. Plus, you had to fold clothes when you got home.

You squeezed the plush toy of Bendy that sat in your lap while you were driving almost involuntarily to soothe yourself. It would have been better if you were doing something of the sort with the real deal, but since he was so damn infuriating...

You turned your eyes back to the road and tried not to wish for all those moments you had with him back, minus the interruptions.

By the time you made it home, you were a complete wreck with these thoughts. The dying light of the sun tinged your version with varying shades of orange and red and you dropped your keys at least three times before Bendy got sick of waiting and reformed simply to take the keys from you and open the door himself. With a grateful and relieved grin at him, you stepped inside and immediately relaxed until the ink demon came up behind you with little to no space left.

"I-I have to do the laundry," you whipped around and squeaked, eyes wide. "You can come with me downstairs, I guess, but it's pretty boring."

"I'll be the judge of that," he answered dismissively and followed you to your chore despite your warnings.

Not even five minutes into folding did the ink demon blurt out, "This is boring."

"I told you," you sighed in both exasperation and amusement while tucking your clothes in on themselves. "Tell you what, you can go wait for me outside and I'll meet you there. Sound good?"

"Fffffiiiine," came his dragging agreement and Bendy spun on one heel to leave you with your chore.

Left alone in the basement, you tried not to smile and continued tidying up your laundry. It was almost completely night by the time you joined the ink demon outside, with the faintest streaks of dark purple and blood orange left in the sky where the sun had fallen. His legs were crossed and it looked like he had thrown his usual pair of jeans on before going out. A few fireflies lit up the mild air and Bendy's eyes trailed them, though he didn't give chase. The sound of your back door opening alerted him to your presence and he looked up from his seat underneath your elderly neighbor's hedge.

"Heya," he said with a stupid grin, trying not to let his throat go dry when he saw the pale moonlight and deep yellow glow mingle on your illuminated face.

"Hi," you greeted back pleasantly and made your way over to where the ink demon sat. "Do they still disappoint you?"

"What?"

"The stars," you specified and curled up beside him, freshly washed legs tucked neatly under each other. "They should look better tonight. Our street lamp went out for some freak reason."

"Oh," he said and looked at your legs then back up at you. "Well, everything here is a disappointment, but I guess that's less of one now."

"Sorry to not meet your standards. I'll try and make everything perfect from now on."

"I was joking."

"You have a funny way of showing it."

"Honestly, with me, you probably should safely assume that everything is a joke."

"Everything?" Moon-reflected eyes stared into his and now his throat really was dry.

"Most things."

His reply came out as a faint wheeze and you laughed, which didn't quite help his predicament. "So, is you staying after hours at the studio doing who knows what or taking care of Alice just a joke?"

"Is this your way of asking me exactly what I do at the studio?"

"...yes."

"No."

"Can you at least tell me why you hate Joey?"

"Well, hate is a strong word, but yes, I do hate Joey."

"Why?"

"Why do you hate your parents?"

"I don't hate them, I just don't care about them. You can't use this as a reason to not answer because I'm fine with telling you."

"You are the absolute worst."

"I know. Maybe that's why my parents wanted to return me. But with Joey, he made you on purpose. Isn't that some small comfort?"

"Not at all. Quite the opposite, in fact."

"Fine, then, don't tell me while I ramble about my experiences with being neglected and doing drugs and how if I did a complete flip, you can too."

"Please don't."

"I will," you said and leaned towards Bendy. "I won't stop talking if you don't answer."

"I'll suffocate you and claim your house as my own, now get off of me."

"I don't take your threats seriously anymore."

"That's a shame because you won't see what hit you one of these days."

"You don't ever do anything you say you will. It's not very intimidating," you paused and broke off awkwardly. "I... You used to terrify me."

"What?" The ink demon asked and swung his head over to you, hooked horns gleaming in the hazily warm air. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that you used to scare the living daylights out of me. I even considered calling in sick a few times in the winter just because I was so anxious about going to the studio." Seeing the almost crestfallen look beginning to spread the ink demon's face, you hurried on and added, "But that was um, before... this... I just wanted to say thanks for... for changing my mind."

"No problem," he purred and leaned forwards, wreathing you in that strange combination of the smell of mint and paper. "Actually, just so you know, I never hated you."

"Really," you said absently and let your eyes lid slightly at the feeling of a gloved hand tracing underneath your chin.

"Mhmm," Bendy confirmed, pale gray spreading across his face as he whispered, "I just really like bothering you."

A breathy giggle escaped you. "Thanks," you said back softly and giddily, tracing your hands down the devil's skinny shoulders to his chest.

The purrs coming from the back of his throat deepened and you could faintly hear him whisper your name before closing the small gap between your lips. Almost immediately the taste of frost washed over you and you sighed out of your nose and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him deeper into the touch almost desperately. The hand that was cupping the side of your face fell away to press against your back and then grab your hips, pulling you on top of the ink demon. A faint moan came from you at the feeling of his hips pressing against yours and a forked tongue sliding against your teeth.

_Oh, god,_ you thought briefly before getting swept back under the haze you fell into with the pressure being put on your slightly parted lips and sides.

Then without any warning, Bendy pulled away, leaving you panting. You were about to protest with a needy whine until he pressed his lips against the nape of your neck and dragged his forked tongue across the exposed skin. Another soft cry escaped you and you pressed your hands against his chest, head tossed back and legs shaking. The purrs from before returned as the ink demon pulled away again and stifled the noises you were making by catching your mouth with his again.

"(Y/N)," you heard Bendy murmur before sliding his thin tongue back against yours, to which you responded by groaning his name.

_Oh, god, I want this, I_ need _this, oh my god_ , you thought again in a nearly incoherent inner monologue and enjoyed his fangs grazing at your bottom lip.

His fingertips pressed into your thighs and you could barely feel a spade-tipped tail sliding under your chin. His hands moved up, slightly tugging at the hem of your shirt while you hooked the loops of his too-tight jeans.

Then a scream sounded from above you.

Your chest nearly burst from fright and you jumped off of the ink demon like you had been shocked. Bendy toppled back and landed on his elbows, nothing but surprise etched onto his dark gray face. His expression immediately changed to one of embarrassment and horror when he looked up to see just who had abruptly interrupted. Shaking, you followed his gaze upwards, then wished you hadn't.

There was your elderly neighbor, who was innocently trimming her hedge before seeing you draped over a literal cartoon character in your yard.

Her eyes were wide with disgust and disbelief as she stuttered out, "You... he... that's B-B-B... and you're... Ugh!"

She finished with a shriek then crashed away through her yard, not believing the plain truth presented before her.

You looked over at Bendy, heart beating madly, and saw the exact same expression that you had on being reflected back at you.

There was only one thought on both of your minds:

_Oh, no._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *starts running* PLEASE DIRECT ALL COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS AND EXPLOSIONS TO THE SECTION DOWN BELOW THANK YOU HAVE A GOOD LIFE!
> 
> *disappears down bunker*
> 
> PEACE OUT, RAINBOW TROUT.


	17. Worry

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't worry about it."
> 
> (Warning! Chapter is just a tiny bit NSFW. Better safe than sorry.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh boy, this chapter is a doozy...
> 
> Hey, hey, hey, I'm TK and back today for Chapter 17, Cake. Yeah, so, I've crawled outta my bunker to publish this, so don't kill me. This chapter makes up for it (I hope).
> 
> Also, as you may have noticed, this is where the rating changes. Yup. It wasn't meant to until 19 but oOPS I HAVE NO SELF-CONTROL.
> 
> This chapter isn't bad but it has some bad things. Not what you're thinking, of course, get your head outta the gutters. I'm joking, it's sorta what you're thinking. A little bit. Maybe?
> 
> I'm confusing myself so I can't imagine what you're thinking right now, so please, read on and enjoy.

 

 

"Oh my god oh my god oh my god oh my god--"

"If you could stop making something out of nothing, then that would be great."

"It's not just nothing, you ass! It's the polar fucking opposite of nothing!"

"You _need_ to calm down."

"You _need_ to actually take something seriously for once!" You hissed back at the disdainful ink demon, who looked at you like you were just being your cute little anxious self.

It was absolutely infuriating.

After being... interrupted... you had scrambled away from the embarrassment and lust filled air and ran inside, slamming the door behind you. Bendy had leaped up, tripped over his tail, and followed you, casting terrified glanced behind him the entire time, almost afraid that you had locked the door on him.

Fireflies continued to glimmer enticingly in the warm Spring night you left behind.

"I don't need to take meaningless things seriously," Bendy replied to you in a lazy drawl and let the tip of his tail sway slightly.

This statement was not true. What could be more serious than letting Joey's little secret out? Nothing but sheer panic had gripped him at that moment, perhaps accompanied by a tinge of embarrassing guilt. It had been extremely confusing to his senses when just a few heartbeats before the event he had felt something else entirely, and to show for it, his pants were still too tight, even now, to his discomfort. It was lucky that you hadn't noticed yet but the reason as to why was not as lucky. Currently, you were halfway slumped down the wall beside your backdoor, head covered with your arms, letting out a wail every so often. It was pitiful. Any sane person would agree with your predicament and decide that it was an issue worth addressing, but Bendy, crashing through unexplored territory, dealt with it the only way he knew how. It's all a joke. Nothing mattered. Who cares?

While this may have been beneficial under the influence of Joey, what the demon couldn't grasp was that in the real world, things couldn't be appropriately worked through with indifferent laziness. On the other hand, you understood this perfectly and on top of your anxiety, you felt nothing but furious impatience at his sluggish responses.

"It's not meaningless," you spat angrily, entire body trembling with fright and anger. "That's not just meaningless! Nothing about that was meaningless! Don't you take anything seriously?!"

"No."

"Ugh!" You shrieked, nearly pulling out your hair.

Not wanting to deal with the childish devil anymore, you forcefully shoved him away, making him stumble back, then whipped around to storm upstairs, leaving a bewildered and clueless Bendy behind. He once again started after you and once again tripped while making his way up the steps. You were about to slam your door closed before the ink demon managed to put a hand on the doorframe and keep you from locking him out.

"Alright, look, I'm sorry!" He gasped, wide-eyed, tail lashing. "I'm sorry, just--look, I--you can't blame me--"

"Is that what you're worried about?" You hissed, dangerously low. "You getting blamed! You're un-fucking-believable! I can't -- you're so -- I hate you!"

With that, you slammed your bedroom door closed, barely missing his fingers, leaving behind a shocked demon in the wake of your tirade. It took a few moments for Bendy's initial surprise to wear off, leaving behind anger and frustration both towards you and himself.

Mainly himself.

Tail still lashing furiously, he curled his gloved fingers into fists at his sides and stomped away to his own room, unsure of what to do with himself. A small victory for him was not slamming his door shut as harshly as you had, instead closing it with quiet reserve, which he told himself represented how it wasn't carelessness, it was just his naturally cool personality. That's all it was. Bendy repeated this mantra in his head as he threw himself into his bed and gave out harsh snarls that reverberated in his chest. He had not the faintest clue how to feel. Should he be angry at you for misunderstanding what he was trying to say? Should he start plotting the murder of your entire neighborhood? Or should he simply do as he suggested earlier and not care about anything? More issues tumbled out onto his plate, topping those revolving around Alice and Joey and you.

There was still that unbearable tightness of his pants which for some reason refused to go away.

Still growling softly, the ink demon decided to ignore the problems closing in on him and kicked off his pants.

Of course, there had to be complications, he told himself and tossed his head back with a gasp at the sudden cool air around him. There just had to be some kind of obstacle all the damn time. Because if there wasn't, then maybe you would be the one giving the ink demon a handjob right now, maybe you could be the one filling the room with gasps and cries instead of the lone devil, but god fucking forbid you have sex with a cartoon character.

Bendy gritted his teeth at a sharp twist of his hand and tried to recall the way you whispered his name but the sound was already fading from his guilt-tinted memory.

Meanwhile, you were laying face down in your bed, still shaking and now were accompanied by a few tears, though you had no idea what there was to be crying about. Were they out of frustration or plain sadness?

Despite you not recognizing it, there was plenty to be weeping over. For one, the secret was out. It was foolish to believe that nothing would be done about this predicament and shallow to assume that the elderly interloper would be marked off as senile. The town was scattered with workers from Joey Drew Studios, and if something got out that simply claimed her as insane, everyone at the studio would still believe her because they knew that the characters had come to life.

Shawn and Thomas and Boris' suspicious faces swam to the focus of your mind.

God, of all the fucking people, why her? Just add that to your ever-growing list of worries, right under college douchebag and Alice Angel. It was hard to tell which one was the most pressing of all matters but in an attempt to organize yourself, you decided that it was a tie between college douche and the fossil. Alice, however horrible her situation was, didn't directly affect you. Right?

College kid, as you had told yourself before, was a wild card. Who knew what he was going to do. Now that you thought about it, fossil was a similar token. At least you could try and predict what she would do. Either she goes absolutely insane before telling anybody; she goes off her rocker and tells everybody, or Joey Drew Studios would have an unexpected visitor.

The thought of Joey finding out made you tremble violently. Bendy was literally his creation and wasn't even human, and if the animator found out that you were both trying to find new and creative ways into each other's pants...

You shuddered and hot tears soaked the pillow beneath you. You could already see the now familiar combination of surprise, disappointment, and disgust on his face. As much as you hated admitting it, you didn't want to lose Bendy after having him for a split second, which contributed to the all of the near self-destructive anger towards him. Why the hell didn't he care? First off, you were practically handing yourself to him, and second off, he was in pretty hot water considering how someone saw him.

Confused, angry, and despairing, you fell into a fitful sleep, wishing the problems away and a forked tongue back against yours.

Your dreams were once again haunted and disconcerting. Tonight, they featured the ever powerful topic of embarrassment, though there was always that recurring blade and an angel's promise that it wouldn't hurt a bit. Snippets of images passed by, changing from Joey Drew Studios to the city to a moon-washed yard and back again. There was only one somewhat flowing scene that your distressed mind had conjured up, to your horror.

You, pinned facedown on your desk at Joey Drew Studios, with a presence between your trembling legs that was unmistakably Bendy. It was dark and the only sounds were that of ink against flesh and you crying out and Bendy panting. Bolts of pleasure ran up your spine and you had your eyes shut and lips parted in unintelligible begging. Bendy groaned behind you and rocked his hips forward, pressing you down against your desk with one hand while the other gripped the edge of the table. Your eyes fluttered open to greet nothing but darkness with a gasp. It was almost perfect until some unseen force flicked the lights on, and then there was everyone from Joey Drew Studios, watching you getting fucked by the ink demon himself.

Whatever build-up of pleasure you had immediately plummeted and you gaped at all of the stiff figures staring blankly at the position you were in.

Then the laughing started.

It was nothing short of torture to see all of your coworkers sneering at you, catcalling, and screaming in disgust.

In the crowd you could pick out Shawn's twisted face, Sammy's cold unreadable one, Thomas' expression of nothing but pure disappointment, Wally and Norman's shared flabbergast, envy burning in the eyes of a fallen angel, an ink wolf beside her covering his eyes and shaking, Allison Pendle's confusion, Susie's hatred, and the worst of all, plain shock reflected at you from Joey Drew himself.

"Don't worry about it," a sudden soft voice murmured in your ear from behind you and the ink demon finished, leaving a hot, sticky sensation dripping between your thighs while his deep moans mingled with the appalled jeering of your coworkers in the air.

You awoke with a start in a pool of your own cold sweat. It was dawn. You raised your trembling hands to your face, trying to recall the nightmare, but only caught a faint haze of embarrassment mixed with pleasure and the wide-eyed face of Joey Drew before it vanished, swept away by a whispering breeze that told you to not worry.

Numbly, you went through your morning routine, trying to not let yourself have a panic attack at only six in the morning. Your mind enveloped you in a sheltering haze to protect you from the damage that was done last night. Perhaps it would have been more beneficial to face the music and start making a plan as to how you were supposed to desperately cling onto the careless ink demon in your home and not allow this news come to Joey's ears but a dull buzz filled your aching head, blocking you from your worries that must be addressed.

This haze also greatly slowed your normal functions and it wasn't until eight when you finally went downstairs and began to finish your preparations, hair sopping wet. You had nearly drowned yourself in the shower earlier and didn't bother to properly take care of yourself by drying off. Maybe there were even some suds left in your hair.

It wasn't until you sat down at your dining room table with your breakfast did the curtain shielding you from reality drop away and your sanity did, too, leaving you as a huddled mess on your chair.

First, there was sadness. Were you really in danger of losing the cartoon that was able to wrap you around his fingers so easily?

Then there was anger. How dare he pretend like it doesn't matter and dismiss your fears?

Fear began to take over. What were both of your neighbors going to about your many wrongs?

The depression and fury and terror billowed until it was swept away, leaving behind an empty shell who was staring out of the window at a few children dragging themselves down the sidewalk, looking just as hollow as you felt. In the sky, the sun climbed ever higher, heating up the ground below to a near boiling point. It felt that way in your house, as well. Things were ready to boil over and Bendy, as he woke up from the slumber he didn't need, immediately felt this oppressive heat press down on him. Unprepared for the day ahead of him, he dragged himself out of the ink-soaked sheets and tumbled to the floor. His horns banged against the wall and he hissed at the pain that bloomed behind his eyelids and stood up, shaking off the ache. A tremor went through the entirety of his tail and he bared his glinting fangs in the pale sunlight filtering through the dark curtains as he stretched. He cupped one of his long, hooked horns, still hissing softly, then rummaged through his things for a new pair of pants. If he was thinking then he would have stayed in his room the entire morning.

The ink demon didn't particularly look forward to seeing you after yesterday. It made his insides and face burn and his lanky limbs feel even more awkward than usual. There was every possibility that you were still angry with him for whatever reason. Bendy couldn't see why you didn't just decide to let go of the problem. Who cares if someone saw? It's not like anyone would believe her and plus, then everyone would know that you're his. This was a very loose term at the moment, however, and the thought of him blatantly asking you made his nonexistent stomach churn even more. As before, it was a lie to say the cartoon devil didn't care when he obviously was brewing underneath his inky black skin. It was a good coping mechanism under Joey Drew, though.

If there's no point in life, then why would there be a god, and what did it matter if the ink entities were being regularly dissected? Not letting things get to you was the key of the dynamic. If Bendy took anything half as seriously as you do then he would have gone mad long ago. Making jokes out of your problems made them seem small and insignificant when they were really mountains over the horizon.

Philosophy reinforced and a new pair of jeans on, Bendy curled his tail disdainfully and left his room, wondering if he would be able to have some alone time before you came downstairs. What he wasn't expected was for you to already be there. The ink demon trotted down the hall to the dining room, saw you and your harsh expression as you stared out the window, widened his eyes, then spun on one heel to leave, hoping you hadn't noticed him. Out of the corner of your eye, however, you saw the surprised demon perfectly but made no move to alert him to your awareness. This gave him a false sense of relief as he went back down the hallway swiftly yet silently and holed up in your living room.

Bendy began picking through stacks of books on the end table by the couch, knowing that turning on the TV would be like suicide. Maybe if he took some initiative then he could smooth over whatever problem you had taken up with him from last night but laziness and fear held him back, as well as telling himself that it didn't matter. He picked up a few books while thinking but none interested him. Usually, the ink demon would have proceeded to tear out every single page from its bindings slowly to maximize the ripping noise but something told him that maybe this wasn't the brightest idea. Instead, he settled for hurling the books that he didn't like across the sofa and throwing a silent, small hissy fit. He was about ready to start scratching at the couch to pull the insides out until you somehow materialized down the hall, facing the room distastefully.

Bendy looked up from his task of tearing apart the room and promptly fell off the couch when he saw you.

"Go put something with a hood on, put your tail away, and for Christ's sake, take off your bow for once," you ordered, hardly able to look at the ink demon.

"But wh--"

"Just _go_!" Your last word came out as a booming bark and the cartoon scrambled off the ground, making sure to give you a wide berth as he ran upstairs.

Ignoring the dumbfounded and almost terrified look he shot back at you before he disappeared with a flick of his tail, you slunk back over to the dining room, waiting for the ink demon impatiently. It didn't help that when he did finally reemerge from his room, he scooted into the room with you like a scolded dog. For some reason, this made you even angrier at him, shown by how you snapped your teeth at him and growled a curse under your breath. You gathered your things off the table while Bendy watched meekly. He felt like he was back to being three feet tall and you once again wanted absolutely nothing to do with him. Last night seemed like a lifetime ago.

Bendy wished you just told him exactly what he was doing wrong but at the moment, the ink demon was about as appealing as a slug to you. Sure, you didn't like how he said to not worry, but what was wrong with calming down? It wasn't like your neighbor was going to do anything besides probably drive herself insane. For example, college douchebag promised a comeuppance, but did he hold his word? No.

Keep in mind that Bendy doesn't have very good foresight.

Still, he used this flimsy argument that he was in the right while you were wrong and that instead of yelling at him, you should probably take off your pants.

That would be much better.

While Bendy was entertaining himself with this brilliant idea, you finished checking that you had all of your things and abruptly turned to the front door.

"Come on," you barked tersely, making the devil jump. "Put your hood up and stop being a baby so we can go."

"Go?" He echoed, which wasn't the smartest thing to do in this situation.

Immediately blowing up, you reared on Bendy and snarled, "Yes, we're going! I'm taking you with me, not because I want to, but because I have no choice! Honestly, I don't even know why I'm telling you because you won't care either way!"

You then gave one final growl and threw the door open, strode out into the hot air quickly to hide the tears burning behind your eyes, and left behind a stupefied ink demon standing in the middle of your hall. Then, shaking off his stupor, Bendy bounded after you, slamming the entrance closed behind him. You had already started the car by the time he caught up to you and you had your face buried in your palms, strangely still.

"Um, are you okay...?" He asked tentatively as he slipped into the passenger's side and saw you.

"I'm fine!" You snapped back and jerked up.

The ink demon inferred that you would rather not talk to him and remained silent for most of the ride. This both angered and calmed you. On one hand, at least he was smart enough to somewhat respect your wishes and hold his tongue; on the second hand, this meant that you had no outlet beside your steering wheel; on the third hand, you just really wanted to hear his voice. But you also didn't.  
_  
Why does everything have to be so confusing?_ You wondered hopelessly and looked over at the cartoon who gazed out the window and picked at the lock on your door absentmindedly. If he could just acknowledge that you were absolutely terrified and utterly confused then you could work past your anger at him but for whatever reason, he continued acting like the bullheaded demon he was. Even if he just told you why he had this habit of dismissing issues then you would be somewhat satisfied, but this? You could have sworn you were making progress. Now you were about, oh, I don't know... a thousand steps back from where you were before?

_I can't believe I'm in love with you,_ you internally shot at the ink demon and tightened your grip on the steering wheel until your knuckles were white. You only brought him because you didn't feel comfortable leaving him at home what with the secret being out but the problem with this was that he could see it as a reward. The last thing you wanted was for the ink demon to have a good time. You were too bitter about your fears being brushed off. There was more to it than just fear, however. What you were really afraid of was how he could be implying that you and him were meaningless, too. Now that -- that bothered you to no ends.

There was just too much to be dealing with. It almost made you wish back the days when your only worry was if your parents never came back home from work. Almost. Trying to calm down, you lied to yourself by saying that everything would be okay, Bendy was just being an ass but would come back around soon, your neighbor would simply be marked off as a loon and would also not be blown out of proportion, college kid would fade to the back of everyone's memory, and Alice would get over Susie eventually.

With these unrealistic promises, you pulled up to your work, turned off your car, and ordered Bendy to get out.

The ink demon obeyed with a scramble and stumbled out of the vehicle. You followed with much more grace, then, still refusing to look him straight in the eye, beckoned the hooded figure to follow you.

"When we get there, don't act like an idiot," you began informing him in a somewhat spiteful, monotone voice. "Make sure no one sees you unless you want something like last night to happen again but in public. Don't talk to my co-worker. I know for a fact that she'll try and talk to you but that's only because she's a whore with no standards. I'm pretty sure she's only sixteen, anyway, and I don't think you want to be labeled as a pedophile. Even then, I'd still kill you. Don't you dare make me lose my job. I already shouldn't be bringing you but since somebody knows you exist..." A sigh rumbled in the back of your throat. "Whatever. So, don't mess up my work, if you so much as look at my co-worker then I'll kill you, and try not to be stupid."

This talk lasted you all the way to the front of the clothing store where you worked. Casting a sideways glance over at Bendy, who looked a bit queasy, you pushed open the entrance and strolled in with him trailing behind you. Boobs McKenzie was already there. She sat at a cash register, looking quite bored until she saw you. She perked up slightly but really wasn't all that excited over your appearance. Then she saw the tall, hooded, skinny, boy toy you dragged in. Her interest immediately peeked and she nearly fell off of her seat, then, recomposing herself, she bounced over to you and the unknown figure.

"Hi, (Y/N)," the ex-school girl said breathlessly and cut off your purposeful strides. "Like, who're you with?"

Before you could answer, the hidden ink demon behind you stepped forward and stated, "I'm Bendy."

You fumed behind him both due to him shoving you aside like you were insignificant and for directly addressing Boobs McKenzie when you specifically told him not to. You also weren't very happy about him revealing his actual identity, since Bendy wasn't exactly your typical everyday name. Apparently, he hadn't learned his lesson from last night.

Neither of the two noticed your growing fury and Bendy continued to regard the cashier by her chest. He wondered if there was a way to scrawl "DESPERATE" over it without her noticing.

The ink demon's cold voice only heightened her curiosity (mainly revolving around what was in his pants, much to your dismay). "Bendy? Huh. Do I... Do I know you?"

Call her crazy, but for some peculiar reason, Boobs McKenzie could have sworn that she knew that voice from somewhere. Frosty, high, smooth, and a bit mischevious... She narrowed her eyes and tried catching a glimpse of what was under Bendy's hood but found nothing but shadow. "I think I know you from somewhere."

"I don't think so."

"No, but, like, isn't there a... a... something with, uh, your name or, like..."

Behind the ink demon, you tensed with fear and anger at him.

After a few more stutters and "like"s, your co-worker decided that her few precious brain cells couldn't be spared and dropped the issue. "Okay, whatever, I guess, you should totally, like, keep me company because it's soooooooo boring here."

"Thanks, but no," you finally stepped in and hissed, bristling at the encounter. "I need to go put my stuff away, and you're coming with me," you turned to Bendy with a foreboding glare.

Without waiting for a confirmation from the devil, you took his wrist and dragged him away, while your co-worker waved after him with a sickly sweet, fake beam. You could see this gesture out of the corner of your eyes and nearly boiled over before you could throw Bendy out of sight. However, once you stormed into the backroom of the store and yanked the ink demon in behind you, you immediately rounded on him and started snarling.

"What?" He asked, confused, leaning against the wall with his hood down to reveal his long horns.

Another shriek escaped you and you threw your bag at his face. The ink demon squealed and was barely able to dodge the projectile.

"What do you mean, _what_?!" You hollered, fingers curled into fists. "The first thing I tell you not to do, and you go and do it! Now she'll never hop off your ass!"

"I didn't--"

"Sorry to sound like you for a second, but I don't care! I tell you things for a reason and when you just dismiss or ignore them then it's completely insulting!"

"But I just--"

"Just shut up! If you actually cared about anything then you'd probably understand but for now, just get the hell out and don't get in my way!"

"Why'd ya even bring me if--"

The previous screeches dropped to a low growl. "Because in case you hadn't noticed, then someone knows you exist, and since I actually care about things, then I decided that maybe you weren't exactly safe at home. But honestly, what does it matter? Nothing, to you."

You left before he could choke out an answer and plucked your bag up from the floor, found your nametag, and then reemerged from wherever you had disappeared off to with your head held high, dragging Bendy out of the break room with you.

Most of the shift was spent with the ink demon sitting behind you, arms crossed and scowling like a scolded child. Your ex-schoolgirl co-worker tried approaching him a few times but was chased off with a possessive snarl from you, until she got the memo that the devil was off limits. This didn't faze her as much as you would have liked but at least she had the sense to leave him be (for the most part). While you were snapping impatiently at a none-too-bright customer, she glanced over at you and the sulking form of Bendy, then slipped away from her post and scurried over to the ink demon, making sure to give you a wide berth as she did so.

The fake blonde girl snuck up behind him and pounced. "Hi, it was, like, Bendy, wasn't it? Um, wanna follow me around? 'Cause, like, it's super boring here, and uh..."

Bendy rolled his black eyes underneath his hood at her overuse of filler words and replied, "Fine," then added under his breath, "Not 'cause of your tits, though."

Boobs McKenzie gave a grin that was more like bearing her teeth, ready to sink them into whatever the ink demon had to offer, and ushered him away from where you were exasperatedly telling someone that you can't return items bought over thirty days ago without a receipt. At first, Bendy was unsure over his decision to disobey your warnings but a quick glance backward at your snarling self stiffened his resolve and he loped after wherever your co-worker was going. It wasn't anywhere interesting, however, just a few ragged displays and stacks of clothes that needed to be sorted through. The ex-schoolgirl began going through them, humming softly. Bendy had to force down the habit of letting his tail tip twitch in annoyance. It was uncomfortable enough having his tail hidden down one of his pant legs; there was no reason to make it even worse for himself.

"So..." The blonde finally began, not looking at the uninterested devil while she spoke. "So, um, are you like, dating (Y/N)?"

Bendy, caught off guard, had to a stop himself from coughing before he could reply.

Eyes burning, he choked out, "N-No." _Maybe? Probably not. I hope so._

"Oh. Do you like her?"

"No." _Yes_.

"Are you dating anyone?"

"No." Noticing the expression spreading across the girl's face, he quickly added, "And I don't want to, either."

She straightened up from her chore, looking a bit annoyed at being offhandedly rejected. "Oh. Um, I have a boyfriend."

"Good for you."

"We have a kid. He's gonna go to, like, college, so he can support us or whatever."

"Good for him."

The annoyed expression she had soured even further. Sometimes telling people that she was taken worked. It wasn't a lie, however, and she didn't particularly care that she had cheated on her clueless boyfriend multiple times. There were just so many samples of the market she could take. It bothered her to no ends that this one, who she had built up in her head to look absolutely amazing under that hood with his smooth voice and how damn skinny he was, was completely dismissing her.

She didn't guess that the actual figure under the hood was a literal cartoon (who you could still argue was good-looking).

"So, like..." Boobs McKenzie started tartly, gazing up at Bendy, still trying to get a glimpse of his face under the hood but only catching a brief glimmer of dark eyes. "I guess I should, um, go back, now. It's pretty much the end of my shift now, too..."

"I'll follow ya, then," the demon agreed, pleased in spite of himself. It was funny to see her huffy face. He wasn't too happy about not being able to scrawl "DESPERATE" over either her chest or forehead, however.

When the two got back, you had finished helping the customers lined up at the cash register and were looking a bit harassed and frantic. You had noticed Bendy's absence but couldn't leave your position because surprisingly enough, Boobs McKenzie was gone too. Your wide eyes and fear vanished in favor of a sneer and fury when you saw them both walking back over together. In your anger (and some jealousy, though you didn't want to acknowledge that emotion), you didn't notice how Bendy looked disdainful and somewhat pleased with himself, while Boobs McKenzie looked put out and pissy. All you could see was red and you felt like a green monster.

Bendy deflated slightly when he saw you about ready to boil over. So you had noticed him leaving. Swallowing his shame, he kept his head held high and hidden tail stiff.

"Heya," he said arrogantly when he made it over to you.

In the background, Boobs McKenzie slumped back down in her seat and watched the two of you angrily.

"I can't fucking believe you," you hissed under your breath at him, then, grabbing his wrist tightly, you said louder, "Come on, we're going."

With the steely grip on his arm, you stormed away from your co-worker to the backroom where your things awaited you, ink demon in tow. You didn't speak to him at first when you made it into the room and disappeared around a corner. Taking this as a good sign, Bendy followed you, flipping his hood back and letting himself relax in the false sense of security.

He realized this was a mistake the moment he saw your twisted expression.

"I can't fucking believe you!" You repeated in a screech and threw your bag at him for the second time that day.

This time, however, the pouch made its mark and hit Bendy in the stomach, making him keel over slightly.

"What the hell?!" He wheezed, arms held over himself protectively.

"No! You're 'What the hell'!" You howled back and trembled. "Are you trying to piss me off as much as possible?! You act like nothing matters, like I don't matter, then you don't listen to me, and you--you--ugh! Goddammit, Bendy! I can't believe you! I tell you things for a reason and you're just making everything worse! Why did you go off with her?! What did you even do--why would she--did you--"

"Are you jealous?" A low voice interrupted your stammers and you broke off, glaring at the now straightened form of Bendy.

"No," you spat angrily, completely taken aback by this. "Why would I be jealous of that especially when I hate you."

"That's what I want to know," he said, still strangely blank, head cocked slightly.

You pressed yourself against the wall when he took a pace forward and internally chided your shaking legs. "Well, I'm not and I still hate you!"

"There's really no reason to be jealous," he continued and put his hands against the wall on either side of you.

"I'm not--why would I--why would anyone be--" you stammered, angry at yourself for being flustered so easily. "I hate you!"

Bendy then pinned your wrists above your head and pressed his lips against yours forcefully. An angry squeak escaped you but the ink demon only took this chance to slip his tongue against yours and growl softly. In spite of yourself, you let your eyes flutter shut and one leg hook around his hips. Yes, you were still completely pissed at him and wanted to rip off his horns, but it was hard to ignore that thin forked tongue against your teeth and two gloved hands pulling away from your wrists to hold onto your waist underneath your shirt. You held one of his horns with a freed hand and shuddered, tilting him towards you just a little closer even though you probably should have thrown him off, considering how you were still furious with him.

It turned out you didn't have to. With one last soft snarl, Bendy pulled away, leaving you panting and more confused than ever. He narrowed his eyes at you, flipped up his hood, and then left the backroom. Numbly, you peeled yourself off of the wall, shivering, grabbed your things and put away your nametag, then left.

Bendy was waiting for you but you could hardly hold his gaze, let alone stop blushing or gritting your teeth. The car ride was practically torture and the only thing keeping you sane was telling yourself to keep your eyes on the road even if Bendy wouldn't stop fucking staring at you. Even though you kept your optics glued to the street, you couldn't help but let your mind wander, perhaps a bit dangerously considering you were supposed to pay attention when driving. You just wanted the ink demon to stop acting like a prick half the time. It was emotionally exhausting and you didn't need that on top of all the other problems you had. So, mind made up once you pulled into your driveway, you turned off the car and faced the cartoon unwillingly.

"What," he said snappishly and tugged at the locked door.

You sighed and slumped into your seat. "I'm sorry."

"What?"

"I'm sorry for being angry at you and all. It just really bothers me when you say you don't care."

"What do you mean."

"I mean, not everything is meaningless and you shouldn't treat it like that. And I really am sorry. I just... You saying that you don't care is really hurtful with something like that. It sorta dismisses what I'm afraid of and that pissed me off. I just... I just don't want to lose you."

The ink demon was silent for a few moments. He gazed at you warily, then said plainly, "Okay."

You didn't even have the energy to feel hurt by this. The car doors unlocked and the ink demon immediately strode out and up to your house, while you followed behind much slower. Keys jangling in your hand, you opened the door, and let the conflicted demon go in first. He bared his fangs and watched you walk in after him, fingers curling and uncurling. You shut the door. Almost immediately, the ink demon exploded.

"Alright, I'm sorry!" He cried, eyes wide and shifting nervously. "I'm sorry, okay! I do care but I hate it! Of course I care! I don't want to but I do! I've never had to before now and if I did I would have gone completely insane! Do you know what it's like, always being around Joey? I hate it there! But if I ever took anything seriously then it would just end up hurting me more so I just decided that nothing matters which makes it sound less important than it really is and--"

You interrupted the ink demon's ranting and said, "Okay, hold on. Go sit down before you fall over because it really looks like you're about to. Let me put my stuff away, and then you can try talking like a normal, perfectly calm person. Okay?"

He barely nodded and stiffly made his way over to your sunroom, where he deflated onto the sofa and stared blankly out the window. The ink demon's eyes narrowed when he saw the college group arrive to their own home and he could have sworn that a certain one locked gazes with him through your window before he turned away, following his pack into their home. The sun began to set over the horizon. Bendy watched the sky bleed with color and tried not to let his throat close up, closing his eyes and thinking about how you admitted to not wanting to lose him.

You came back downstairs quickly, in more comfortable clothes. While you were away, Bendy had taken a similar action, judging by how he had thrown his top and gloves across the room and his tail had returned, swishing underneath him lazily. He didn't notice your arrival until you bounded onto the couch next to him and after he hissed at you for your unexpected arrival and you laughed, tapping his knee and saying, "Okay, so, now you can start from the top."

He dropped his gaze to his partially outstretched palms and started tracing his thin fingers with his other free hand. "Okay. Um, I'm sorry I said I didn't care. I do but I really don't want to. I'm worried about Joey finding out, too. I can't help that I'm like this. It's just the way I am. If I ever really admitted to caring about anything before then that would probably just ruin me."

"Why is that?"

"I'd rather not tell you now. But, um, maybe one day. Maybe. I'm sorry. But I do care about you, contrary to popular belief, and I, uh, don't want to lose you either."

"Thank you," you said, finally satisfied with his answer despite not having all of the details. "I hope you tell me why one day, though. And Bendy?"

Black eyes bored into your and you tried not to shiver. "What?"

"If you ever say you don't care about me again then I'll kill you."

A laugh greeted your promise and the ink demon put his chin on top of your head, purring.

"I mean it. I'm dead serious."

"Of course y'are."

You rolled your eyes but didn't push him away. Listening to him purr and try to use stupid pickup lines on you, you let your worries slip away to the back of your mind, quite content to sit there with the ink demon who had somehow managed to sneak his way into your life.

You also weren't as alone anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WASN'T THAT A ROLLERCOASTER?!
> 
> Who even knows what's going on at this point! I certainly don't. This is just the calm (ish) before the storm of next chapter. Actually, next chapter is gonna be pretty unique. I'm excited!
> 
> All three of Reader-chan's main issues combined into one little chapter, bow tie included.
> 
> So, I hope you liked this one. Tell me if you did in the comments below and keep spamming that kudos button! Thank you so much for over 500, that's really great, and I would have never gotten here without you guys.
> 
> Thank you.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	18. Karma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The world moves on, another day, another drama, drama, but not for me, not for me, all I think about is karma. And then the world moves on, but one thing's for sure, maybe I got mine, but you'll all get yours.
> 
> But I got smarter, I got harder in the nick of time. Honey, I rose up from the dead, I do it all the time. I've got a list of names and yours is in red, underlined. I check it once, then I check it twice!
> 
> Look what you made me do, look what you made me do, look what you just made me do, look what you just made me do...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I just use a Taylor Swift song for this chapter?
> 
> Y e s 
> 
> Hey, it's TK, and I'm back today for Chapter 18.
> 
> Not sure if it's a yay, though...
> 
> Okay, so let's get down to business: This chapter is pretty different from the others. You'll see when you read, I guess. I don't know if this is a good or bad thing so I'm pretty nervous. 
> 
> Alright, I'm really nervous. Plus I hauled ass through this one again so I'm sure it's riddled with mistakes...
> 
> Enjoy...?

Sunlight poured into a dark room from a half-opened window along with a faint warm breeze. Cans and bottles gleamed on the floor, illuminated by the pools of light, while a few torn wrappers scuttled across the surface. A certain dinginess filled the space, between the less than tasteful decor of trash, the men who were sprawled out in varying locations throughout the room, and the overall uncleanliness of the home. It was clearly being denied the freshening up it needed so badly.

The smell of alcohol swirled in the air and was whisked away by the light gust before it became too overbearing. There were still bone-rattlingly loud snores reverberating throughout the room from those who were draped on the floor. Luckily, a hangover made them heavy sleepers, so none of the men were awake yet.

Except for one.

The college boy opened his eyes, then immediately narrowed them against the bright sunlight that poured onto his face. A headache throbbed dully behind his skull. He laid in the middle of the room, halfway on top of one of his roommates. Noticing this, the college boy immediately curled his lip in disgust and scrambled off of the other. The sleeping man stirred slightly at the jarring movement, then began snoring again, dreaming of setting his college on fire. College douche glared at his so-called friend for a heartbeat longer and turned away, reminding himself that he wasn't gay. A few pieces of trash crinkled underneath him as he stood up and dusted crumbs off of himself. Glowing dust particles floated across the room. The sun grew even brighter.

Headache sharpening due to the sudden brightness and motion, the college boy stumbled out of the room, keeping special care to not trip over a discarded bottle. He could have sworn that yesterday was cleaning day but he wasn't sure whose turn it was. Not like anything would get done.

The college boy internally steamed at this but didn't take a moment to revel in his own hypocrisy. When was the last time he had cleaned? That's right. Never. He was used to getting things handed to him on a silver platter. After all, it was how he ended up in college in the first place. He had failed almost all of his high school exams and his grades weren't much better for wear. But, lucky for him, all his parents had to do was pull out their wallet and universities came running. The best part was that he was doing even worse than he had in high school and with a few dollar bills, his school would turn a blind eye to his many failures and hark after less rich subjects.

School was of little importance, however, the college boy told himself as he waded through ankle-deep filth to his kitchen to make a cup of coffee. What he was more concerned about was how in the hell he was expected to score a girlfriend. First, his cronies had tried helping him by finding out the nitty-gritty details about you but when that failed, they abandoned the college douche to focus on their drugs. Then, out of the blue, you somehow came to your senses and asked him out! Which, of course, didn't last long, but what mattered was that you had picked him. So who gave that hooded person always hidden in your shadow the right to follow you around, anyway? No matter what you told the college boy, he knew that you leaving him was because of that person. Bendy, he recalled his name being.

What a stupid name, the douche snorted and let the smell of brewing coffee slightly reawaken his senses.

He promised vengeance. He promised upheaval. How was he going to make that work? At this point, he didn't care who he hurt. If Bendy was the only target, then so be it, but if you were in the line of fire, then he wouldn't complain. In fact, he would relish it.

Your rejection didn't bruise anything but his self-esteem. This was only meant to be a sick little confidence boost, with the positive additions of having a cute girl at his side and sex. Nothing more. It didn't make it any less infuriating, though. No one should talk back to him like that, especially not some girl.

The college boy finished brewing his coffee in his growing fury and added his preferred sweetener and creamer. It was a challenge to look angry while doing something so simple as fixing a cup of coffee, however. When the drink was complete, the college boy snatched it up and then slumped at a stool by the island in the middle of the kitchen.

He took a sip and was promptly burned.

Keeping his furious curses to himself, he glared out the window overlooking his side yard and your house. If he focused hard enough, then he would be able to see the faintest outline of hooked horns in the window of your sunroom, but he was too busy seething to pay attention. The college boy continued to dissect everything he knew about the person who just happened to start following you around at about the same time you rejected him. He could have sworn that he knew Bendy. For some odd reason, that frosty, silky voice rang a long-forgotten bell in the back of his head but if he tried pursuing it, the memory would fail him. It made him angrier than ever. It was like trying to hit a bullseye in the dark; it just couldn't be done.

Obviously, revenge was further away than ever. He had no clue where to begin but he couldn't just leave empty threats hanging in the air. For all the other things that he was, the college boy refused to be known as a joke. He also refused to be tossed away in favor of a new plaything.

Coffee cooled, the boy took another sip and savored the bitter taste that filled his mouth. It tasted exactly like the way he felt.

He shut his exhausted eyes and let a cold wave of hunger wash over him as rising sunlight poured into the kitchen and over his face.

When he finished slurping down his coffee, the college boy then dumped his cup in the already overflowing sink with a loud crash. He winced at the noise and paused, listening for the sound of his roommates stirring. Usually, he wouldn't give two damns about waking them up but he wanted to spend this morning alone with his last, precious few brain cells. They were currently working overtime to provide a plan on how to dispose of Bendy and ruin your life. So far, no notable achievements had been made, aside from yet another headache blooming behind his weary optics. Nothing like a cold shower after some coffee to sober him up.

Trying not to stumble from the pounding pain, the college boy made his way out of the kitchen, past the still asleep men, and upstairs to his shared bathroom. The tile was cool and welcoming underfoot and much less sunshine reached the small window over the nook. Comfortable and faint darkness enveloped the space and the college douche wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball on top of the smooth surface and fall fast asleep. But he digressed. That would most certainly not assist his lack of creative ideas, so instead of resting, the boy switched on the shower, stripped down, and then darted behind the curtains. Cold water blasting across his face made him sputter and shake. Despite these unfortunate drawbacks, he felt much more awake, assisted by the caffeine that had finally begun to flow through his system. The boy felt his teeth chatter and lips turn blue but he stubbornly kept the water barely above freezing and let the droplets pour down his back, further chilling his already hollow and cold insides.

He finished his shower quite a while later. By then, he could have sworn that he was about to come down with hypothermia. Caffeine and coldness combined made him shiver violently but at least he was sure that he wouldn't trip over anything now. The college boy dried off as best as he could, picked out a new outfit, and slunk back downstairs. Unsurprisingly, his roommates were still passed out. Glaring at them, he slipped past them to the front door and stepped out.

The air was charged with static humidity. Despite the sunlight, storm clouds brewed over the horizon, casting a gusty breeze that smelled of warm rain. This did nothing to help the moisture that was already pooled on the college boy's skin but he appreciated the heat before it became too overbearing. Trying to calm himself and let the ideas flow, he sat down at a rickety chair on his porch and shut his eyes, letting the hot breeze gust over him.

What could he possibly do? He knew where you worked, where you lived (of course) and where you spent most of your time but for all of this information, he still came up with nothing. Even if he did confront you, then he wasn't sure what to say or do. A simple slap on the wrist and scolding for ruining his confidence wouldn't do. Ice trickled down his spine at the thought.

Whatever it was, he was sure to make it worthwhile.

The sound of a door slamming in the immediate vicinity knocked the college boy from his stupor. Hazy sunlight blinded him briefly when he reopened his eyes and cast them over to the house next to him, optics narrowed and dark. You were about to leave for work, and guess who was with you...

Faggot, the college boy thought with an eye-roll and reclined in his creaky seat, watching Bendy as he strode out your front door arrogantly.

What made the boy falter was the faintest flash of jet-black he saw before you flipped up the hood of his sweatshirt. Now the appearance of you two had his full attention. The college boy stared avidly from the shadows of his porch, rapt and attentive. It was hard to make out exactly what was happening but he could see your face twist as you hissed something at Bendy.

The college douche couldn't see his expression but he noticed his skinny shoulders go up in a nonchalant shrug. Your face fell from angry to exasperated. These events, from the college boy's perspective, were quite fun to watch until Bendy gave an inaudible purr and tilted his hooded head towards yours. That wasn't as fun to view.

Frost constricted the college boy's veins as he saw you briefly press yourself against the tall figure before pulling away, snap something at him again (which was ineffective considering how your eyes had softened and face darkened), then bounded off your front porch to the car with your shadow following closely behind. The boy continued training his gaze on the two of you until your car disappeared from the street, away to work. A bitter taste not unlike his coffee filled his mouth once you vanished from view. You lied. And you lied about lying.

This wasn't meant to happen.

Not wanting to wait for his roommates to saunter around with, the college boy sat on the porch for a few more moments before rising slowly and hopping down the sidewalk. Your other neighbors, the elderly couple, had emerged from their home as well. As the college boy approached with his hands shoved in his pockets and head tilted upwards in disdain, he could see that something was afoot. His interest piqued but he tried to hide the curious expression that was beginning to cross his features behind a mask of cool of indifference. A single eyebrow of his was cocked as he paused in front of their driveway to examine the scene a bit closer. The husband was frantically trying to coax his wife into their car, though to no avail; she looked hysterical and about ready to collapse.

"Hello," the college boy called out to the duo with false politeness. He had plenty of practice ingratiating himself with those above him from his experiences in high school and at his parents' highly esteemed parties. Too bad his parents lived in another state. He missed constantly mooching off of them.

However, this is besides the point. The boy took a slow pace forward and then asked, "Is everything alright?"

The elderly man looked up from where his wife had her head covered, saw the college boy, and smiled. After a few offhanded, passing conversations with the douche, he got the idea that he was a fine young man, not at all like that other teenager who lived by him, which we all know is a horribly backward way of thinking. Unless, of course, he had realized that you were chasing after an ink demon.

"Good morning," he called back with a wave, still smiling. "We're fine, thank you."

"Are you sure?" The college boy advanced further like a predator searching for prey as he gawked haughtily at the man's wife then back at him.

"Yes -- well, actually, no. It's my wife, see? She's been like this all yesterday and on Sunday night she wouldn't even talk to me." An annoyed look flitted across his wrinkled features. "Apparently, I was bothering her, so she went outside and... now she's like this. I told her that night is no time to be outside and that her precious hedge can wait. I told her and what does she do..."

By now, the college boy had once more dragged his flickering gaze away from the man to rest them upon his wife. What did she get herself into?

"...so I decided that maybe I could take her to the doctor and see if there was something wrong, but she won't even move." Frustration burned underneath the elderly man's previously calm voice.

"Can I talk to her?" The college douche inquired while blinking at the woman slowly.

His wife, who had remained mostly quiet, let her ancient knees knock as she whispered, "Absolutely disgusting... how... witchcraft, I tell you..."

What the hell?

A sigh answered the boy. "Be my guest. Maybe you'll have more luck than me. All she's said to me is something about (Y/N) and Joey Drew Studios. Try convincing her to get in the car while you're at it." The man then turned away to struggle with the door of his vehicle. "Goshdarn keys..."

At the mention of your name, the previous curiosity the college boy felt exploded into aching hunger. Any dirt on you would be worth millions. And Joey Drew Studios... He could faintly recall that you volunteered there over the weekend. Why you did it, he had not the faintest clue, it all seemed like a waste of time to him, but if it gave him a path to revenge...

Mind made up, the douche swung his head towards the woman and cocked it slightly. "What's this about (Y/N)?"

A shiver was his only reply. Not even a minute into this and he was about ready to flip a table.

"(Y/N), you old bat," the college douche lowered his voice to a foreboding hiss so that her preoccupied husband wouldn't hear his threatening tone. "What about her? Her and Joey Drew Studios?"

That final phrase must have set her off. "Joey Drew Studios!" She agreed with a shuddering gasp and gripped the front of the boy's shirt with aged hands and bony fingers. "It's... the studio... that's where they are... answers!"

A tremor went through the boy at the feeling of her surprisingly tight trip and her wide, moon-like, haunted eyes. Swallowing his disgust and holding his breath as to not inhale her rank scent, he replied in a furious mutter, "I don't care about that shithole of a studio, dammit, what about (Y/N)?!"

"T-Take me... to... Joey Drew Studios..." she pleaded with an over-the-top wheeze.

The college boy glared down at her shaking form, both disgusted and sickly pleased by the position of power he held over her. Usually he would have jumped at the chance of comeuppance but for now, he was perfectly fine with savoring the authority he had somehow gained.

"And why should I?" He asked in a cold whisper, his twisted enjoyment growing by the second.

"...have to! P-Please? It's (Y-Y/N) and B-B-B-B..." Her already shaky voice trailed off to the college boy's dismay. "They're alive!"

"Who, goddammit, who?!"

"Demons, black magic, the stuff of Satan! That's how... not right..."

"I swear to Christ if you don't start making sense then I'll--" before he could finish his threat, however, his hardened optics trailed over to where the sputtering woman's husband was fumbling with his car. So far, he managed to start the ignition but the engine was having trouble coming to life. Choked coughs emanated from the hood and the elderly man stepped out of the driver's seat to glower at the car's insides like Joey tearing through Bendy.

A respectful tip of the head was exchanged by the two males but once the college boy was sure the elderly man was out of range again, he turned back to his wife and sneered, "You said you wanted to go to Joey Drew Studios?"

Frantic nodding agreed with the boy. Sighing and rolling his eyes, he asked, "What's at Joey Drew Studios anyway? What does (Y/N) have to do with this?"

It was too late. The woman was already dragged back under by a hysterical wave of anxiety.

With an exasperated look at her, the college boy began to quickly weigh his options. This could provide the ammo he needed but why on Earth did she want to go there in the first place? Why not ask her husband. Then, recalling what the man said, he realized that she had probably been begging for him to take her all of yesterday. If he refused, then she would be left with no options, but now that the college boy was here then she could finally receive the answers her fractured mind needed. Choice made, the college douche hissed, "Alright, alright! After sunset today. Be out here and I'll take you. For now, just go with your husband, but don't tell anyone anything. Be on time or I'll go myself and leave you here. And you better fess up about (Y/N), too, when we get there."

He made sure that the elderly woman understood by forcing her to nod her head weakly. A sense of satisfaction and fulfillment washed over the boy at her shaking but agreeable form. He said goodbye to her husband, watched for a few moments as the man finished fixing his car and ushered her in, then set off back to his house in a slinking pace similar to a tiger stalking through the night. His gaze was trained levelly on the sidewalk beneath him as he crept along, only pausing when a small bird who was searching for worms in the strip of grass beside the path came into view. Antipathy filled his eyes and allowed a bitter taste to permeate his mouth.

He punted the unsuspecting avian.

A loud twitter greeted him and the bird skidded across the sidewalk, dazed. It looked up to see the scornful college douche, giving a few more terrified chirps as it tried to fly away. The attempts were in vain. The human towering over it advanced further, casting a tall shadow, and pressed a forceful foot down on one of its wings.

A small crunch sounded and the little bird screeched.

The college boy then walked away, leaving the avian to hoot mournfully over its now shattered wing.

Deeper into the city, Alice Angel wished she had an outlet such as this. All she had at the moment was Boris and she was getting closer and closer to leaving him another lovely new scratch across his face. Tensions were running high, especially considering that Joey Drew had just now noticed Bendy's convenient absences. He had decided, for whatever reason, to start staying at the studio overnight nearly all the time. When Bendy didn't show his face Sunday night or all of Monday, the head animator was less than pleased. Currently, he was hurtling through the workshop, screeching at employees for breathing the wrong way and occasionally calling out for an ink demon that was not there while Sammy Lawrence tried maintaining the position at his side while hurtling down the halls.

Alice sunk further against the wall in hallway she was curled in at the sound of Joey's hoarse hollers. Mutters from nearby workers could be heard once the animator finished his tirade and began searching for Bendy again.

"I don't know why he cares about that damn demon," Norman Polk growled resentfully under his breath while talking to Wally. "Honestly, I'm glad he's been so quiet. It's amazing that Joey hasn't noticed until now. Without him interrupting us, we can get a little bit more done, even if nothing is getting finished on time anymore."

Wally Franks answered in a softer tone, "Well, Joey did basically create him, I think I has to the right to know where he is. I'm glad I don't have to deal with pipes bursting left and right, too, makes my job easier. Except for when I lose my keys. Last time I did that, Sammy went flying off the handle at me. Hey, speaking of, did you hear about what Shawn has been telling everyone?"

A snort came in reply. "Of course I have. The only people who haven't is Sammy and Joey because they'd ruin this studio's only fun: gossip. Honestly, I think he has a few loose screws from working on those lower levels all this time. (Y/N) and Bendy? As if. She hates him. We all do."

"I know, it's disgusting, but he said that he's seen them together, and when Thomas came over--"

"Thomas has always told Shawn what he wants to hear. Anyway, he hasn't been here in years, he doesn't know jack about the dynamics. Like any volunteer would hookup with an ink demon. First off, he's a literal abomination. If Joey wouldn't kill me for it, then I'd shove that stain back in the ink machine where he belongs. Second off, (Y/N)'s a sweet girl, she wouldn't stoop that low, plus, she absolutely hates him. It's pretty funny, actually. I'll tell you one thing, there ain't nothing between them. What a stupid idea. I'll prove it, too."

"How?"

"I know all the ins and outs of this studio. I could see anything I want when I want and no one would ever see me watching, even if I'm right behind 'em. Tell you what, this weekend, I'll pay a bit more attention and find out for myself."

"Huh. Alright, then, but Shawn seems really sure of himself and Thomas did, too, after talking about it..." Their voices faded away as they began walking back to their usual posts and Alice could hear Wally faintly proclaim in the distance, "...but I'm telling you, if Shawn's right, then I'm outta here!"

The moment they completely faded from hearing, the fallen angel felt a deep, dark wave of envy and hunger wash over her and turn her inky blood to ice. She wanted that. She wanted Susie to sneak her out of the studio and fawn over her, she wanted them two to be the shocking talk of the workshop, she just wanted the only person she ever loved back.

But she was gone and there was no one to blame but Joey Drew.

More gloom consumed the angel but before she could wallow in her misery, Boris spoke up from a respectable distance beside her.

"I told Bendy it was a bad idea," he whined, making Alice fume internally. "I told him but he didn't listen and now what? Half the studio won't shut up about him supposedly cornering (Y/N) and the other half won't stop talking about wherever he is and Shawn isn't helping by trying to convince everyone that he's sleeping with (Y/N). Neither is Joey, for that matter. Running around, yelling for him when we all know he wouldn't answer even if he was here... Still, he's in a horrible mood all the time now because of it and I'm worried about the meaning behind him constantly staying here at night..."

The angel wished that her counterpart would silence himself but he continued rambling, trying to reassure himself and Alice that everything would turn out the way it should. Reassurance wasn't what she needed. All she wanted was Susie back but now she only had a skittish half-baked voice actress who barely knew anything about her. Annoyance at Boris fell into anger for what Joey had done to her, for taking away the only thing that made her existence worthwhile, just to cut a few funds. If he wanted to do that, then why couldn't he have just fired you? A simple intern was expendable, especially one that ate into his wallet like a starving parasite. Then Alice wouldn't have to bear the pain of watching you with Bendy and she could finally be happy again. This daydream was pleasing until she realized exactly what she had suggested by it. Could the little angel really put someone else through the exact same pain she was feeling? Especially someone like Bendy, though while he did dump ink bottles over her, rampage throughout the studio, and treat her like a child, it was hard to forget the ink demon practically begging Joey to let him take her place on the examination table or how he carried her out of the room whenever Joey refused to give her a break.

However things ended up, it all came back to Joey Drew, and Alice Angel was sure to make him pay for all of his wrongs.

Entertaining herself with all of the ways she could get her revenge, the ink angel didn't notice the head animator's appearance until he was directly upon her. Boris had clamped his jaw shut long ago and now watched his creator and the angel with wide, wary, coal-black eyes.

Alice Angel gritted her teeth and refused to look up at Joey even though he was gazing down at her expectantly.

"Alice," he urged suddenly, a hint of a snarl in his low voice.

Black optics were still trained at his feet.

"Alice!"

" _What_?!" The small angel suddenly exploded with her teeth bared and face flushed.

A whine came from the wolf beside her at this outburst, fearing for the worst.

The expected fury from Joey never came. Instead, he simply narrowed his eyes at the angel, then beckoned her down the hall from whence he came while padding away.

Swallowing the bitterness in her throat, she grudgingly followed, blowing a strand of her hair out of her face. Dust rose into the air at the sudden disturbance and tickled the fallen angel's nose. She stifled a sneeze and moved along with a pout. A few workers passing by saw her being strung along by Joey and immediately scurried out of their way, not wanting to come in contact with either of the volatile characters. Alice glared at them as she passed, wishing for the ability to shoot lasers from her eyes. Joey, on the other hand, remained as disdainful as ever and barely spared his employees (more like slaves) an offhanded glance while pursuing his office. It came into sight alarmingly sooner than the girl following him would have liked and she had to force down the metallic taste of panic to continue looking as sullen as possible. Joey noticed this stubborn gesture out of the corner of his eye with an internal sigh, then opened the door and beckoned Alice into the space first. She accepted his invitation grudgingly and marched into the center of the office. The animator behind her strolled in afterwards and shut the door softly. Temporary darkness blanketed them until it was chased away with the flick of a switch. Dim lamplight flooded the space, illuminating the man's eyes eerily. In spite of herself, Alice shuddered and drew her arms close to her side.

"So, tell me, Alice," Joey Drew began with false pleasantness and took a seat at his desk, beckoning his creation to do the same. A small victory for her was declining and watching a dark shadow flit briefly over the animator's exhausted features. Brushing this minor discourse off, he continued, "Do you know where Bendy is?"

"No," she grumbled back, thinking about how she would rearrange his face for Susie.

Another gusty sigh escaped Joey. "Alice, look, I'm not the bad guy here, and if you know anything then you really should let me know."

"Well, I don't, so there," the angel said with a finalizing sniff and resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her creator like she had seen Bendy do so many times before.

A loud silence opened up between the two. Drew gazed at Alice, then his hands, then back again. The dark, soulless optics seemed to stare into Alice's heart, visually unraveling it like it had been done physically so many times before. When the interlude became nearly unbearable, Joey Drew finally spoke up again.

"I know how it feels."

More quiet greeted him. Ink roared in Alice's ears.

At the angel's lack of a response, Joey cleared his throat and repeated, "I know what it's like to lose someone you love."

A sudden bolt went through the ink angel and she finally met his stare levelly. Curiosity battled with disgruntlement behind her blank gaze; curiosity winning, she leaned forward and silently pleaded for more of an explanation.

"I know you liked Susie more than you should have," he confessed slowly and dropped his stormy eyes back down to his outstretched hands. "I'm not blind. I know you're not happy with me for what I do to you. All of it, not just me replacing Susie. But you have to understand that I do these things for a reason. You already know what I believe and what I expect of you. As for Susie, well, I understand that. I... I loved someone I shouldn't have, too. I had nothing but this studio when he left. But that was twenty-five years ago. Now I've been enlightened. Don't you see? I moved on and so will you. I do this all for you. Don't you understand?"

Eyes that glittered with a slightly manic look met Alice's, making her tremble. This time, pity and bitterness clashed inside of her, and this time, pity won.

"I... I understand," she whispered, a cold feeling seeping into her veins as she bowed to the will of Joey Drew. "I understand."

His vaguely pleasant atmosphere returned and he gave Alice a small smile. "Well, I'm glad that you at least agree to cooperate with me. Thank you. You can go now, too, but tell me if you see Bendy."

"I will," she replied meekly and turned away to leave.

What made Alice falter briefly was Joey Drew pulling out his research book--which served the dual purpose of being his twisted spin on the Bible--and flipping through it, muttering things about a "breakthrough", "belief", and "cheating death". Then, recomposing herself, the angel strode shakily from his office, leaving him behind to fill the Henry-sized hole in his heart with ink and religion.

As she left, Alice felt her own Susie-sized abscess fill with spiteful ice and hard frost before it shattered.

The angel marveled at the pieces it left behind, then an unforgiving gale in the form of Joey's pleads blew them away and she felt hollower than ever.

The rest of the day was spent with her hiding in shady corners while Joey reemerged from his office, Sammy once more at his side, calling out for Bendy.

Bendy, as it unsurprisingly turned out, was currently at your house, sitting on your couch with the addition of you on top of him while the last few streaks of a deep red sunset faded in the window, partially hidden by storm clouds. He purred softly and grazed his fangs against your bottom lip, coaxing a squeak from you as he trailed his thin, gloved fingers over your thighs. The purrs grew deeper as he pulled away from your face and repositioned his lips against the nape of your neck. A shudder came from you at the feeling of his forked tongue swiping over your skin and your face darkened. The ink demon noticed this with half-lidded eyes and gave a deep purr before peppering kisses across your neck and face.

" _Stooo_ -ooop," you whined in a breathless, halfhearted giggle at the ticklish feeling.

"Nuh-uh," he replied between purrs and continued the light, feathery touches.

You rolled your eyes at him and tried not to blush when harder when he rested a hand against your back and pressed your chest against his while leaving a soft peck on your lips. It was almost cute until he started nuzzling your neck again and sunk his fangs into the skin roughly.

"Ow!" You squealed and pushed him off, then untangled your legs from his to retreat to the end of the sofa. "What the hell?"

"What," he tried replying as nonchalantly as possible, smothering the self-satisfied grin that was creeping across his face.

"You bit me."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did! I see you smiling!"

"You're not even bleeding."

"What -- that doesn't mean -- that hurt...."

"I'm sorry."

"No, you're not, you're still smiling."

The ink demon let his beam through all the way and purred again, tail swishing underneath himself as he slowly tried creeping down to the edge of the couch where you sat.

"No, I see you, don't come over here."

"That's no fun," Bendy replied and continued to crawl over to you, trying to keep his trembling tail as stiff as possible.

Despite all of your threats, you didn't push him away when he made it over to you and instead met his stupid grin with a pout before having it disappear with another deep kiss. He was about to pull away to finish what he had started on your neck when a car horn from outside suddenly blared and made him jump off.

"What the hell?" He wondered, more mystified than annoyed, then popped his head over the top of the couch to stare warily outside.

"What is it?" You asked the devil and pulled yourself up next to him by slinging your arms around his neck.

"Just some car over there," he sneered softly and tilted his horns toward your elderly neighbors' house.

Anxiety began creeping down your spine at the nod towards the person who had discovered Bendy.

Noticing this, the ink demon turned back towards you and crooned again. Before you had time to glare feebly at him through knocking knees and blushed features, he bowled you over onto the sofa with a fluttery growl and disappeared from the window.

The college boy waiting impatiently in his car caught the faintest outline of hooked horns out of the corner of his eye in the moments before Bendy forced you back down. Confusion swamped him but he decided that he must have been seeing things and went back to staring at his neighbor's house angrily, debating on whether or not he should honk again. It turned out he didn't have to. Right on time, the elderly woman stepped out to greet her ride and the night. Knee bouncing agitatedly at her slow approach, the college boy unlocked his car and waited for his company to take the passenger seat beside him. She fumbled with the door briefly, then slipped inside, still shaking.

"So, Joey Drew Studios," the college boy stated, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel and pulled away from the house without a second glance back to the window where you were previously ogling at him, Bendy at your side.

The drive was quick but to the duo in the car, it felt like a lifetime. The elderly woman was almost ready to dissolve in anticipation of receiving the answers to the questions haunting her since Sunday. On the other hand, the college boy was gritting his teeth, grip tight on the steering wheel. For some reason he couldn't explain, a sense of wrongness enveloped him. It wasn't the realization of the fact that he was trying to ruin someone's life, it was just a sense of apprehension, apprehension of something going horribly wrong.

As if proving his point, the first few drops of rain began to fall. Soon the droplets became thundering sheets, slamming on the top of the car and rolling off of the slick surface in waves. This did not faze the elderly woman. She gazed eagerly out the window as her driver pulled aggressively into the parking lot of Joey Drew Studios. The brakes squealed and the tires desperately searched for a grip on the soaked asphalt until the college boy shifted into park once he had pulled into one of the many empty spaces. He wasn't particularly looking forward trekking out into the rain, especially when thunder was rumbling overhead, but he didn't have much of a choice when his unlikely companion suddenly the open the door on her side and ran out into the darkness.

Jumping, the douche turned off his car and hurried after while calling out, "Hey! Damn, you're fast for being so old..."

She was almost ready to hop into the studio by the time he reached her. With a sour look, the college boy nudged her away from the door, then rested his hand on the knob. Something kept him from turning it and striding in arrogantly, however. That apprehension for things to come was back and this time, it refused to leave. The elderly woman beside him obviously didn't feel the same, however. She bounced on the balls of her feet and murmured darkly to herself about answers and sins. Swallowing his uncertainty, not wanting to look like a child in the face of fear and the old grandma beside him (nor did he want even more of a soaking in the rain) he opened the door, and sealed his fate.

Candlelight flickered across the wooden walls. A musty scent hung in the air, along with the smell of ink and paper, forcing a chill down the college boy's spine. He kept himself from turning tail and running off by reinforcing the idea that he came here for a reason, then rounded on the old lady who was taking in the scene with wide, rheumy eyes that then fixated on the boy towering over her.

"So, now that we're here, care to tell me what happened with (Y/N)?" He snarled menacingly, his large shadow flitting over the woman.

"I'll tell!" She gasped, shrinking away. "I'll tell you... you and the animator... F-Find me Joey Drew, please."

More delays. Of course. Rolling his ominously ablaze optics, the college douche replied savagely, "Fine. But you better fess up. Why you have to have that stupid animator here..."

The floorboards creaked as he turned away from the trembling woman to start down the nearest hallway, but his journey was cut short by an unexpected visitor. Something small, cold, and inky bumped into him. A seething angel then met the college boy's disbelieving gaze with dead black eyes.

It was the first fly in what would be her endless web.

Her eyes narrowed even further when he screamed and jumped back, falling flat onto his behind.

"I told you I heard voices," Alice Angel whispered softly, usual dreamy tone now a deep growl.

"I never said that you didn't," came a disembodied reply from behind her and out from the shadows came Joey Drew himself. Sammy Lawrence was at his usual place on his right side, completely silent, though his cold optics told the entire story.

The college boy should have never come here.

Joey recognized this and glared down at his crumpled form. "May I ask what brings you here?"

Before the douche could compose himself and keep his jaw from gaping, a scream came from behind him.

"They're real!" The elderly woman screamed, drivel flying from her jowls as she howled at the glowering Alice Angel. "I knew it! I knew what I saw! It's unnatural, disgusting, witchcraft, sin--"

As her cries became unintelligible, Joey cocked an eyebrow and floated past where the college boy was slumped in a daze to the hysterical woman. More figures behind him were revealed as they moved along with their leader. Boris was among these followers, head lowered and ears flat. Another choked sob escaped the woman at his appearance and she crumpled to the ground. Someone grabbed the college boy and threw him back down onto the floor alongside his companion. He gasped as his breath was ripped away and a few splinters stabbed his palms, faint pain shooting through his body.

Joey started speaking again with an almost amused tone, though on the other hand his optics were filled with wariness. With a flick of his hand, he dismissed the crowd behind him, leaving only him, Alice, Sammy, and the two intruders in the entry room. "Knew what you saw? Tell me, what did you see?"

For all of her previous eagerness, she faltered slightly when faced with the actual topic of confession. Words gurgled in the back of her throat but none came out.

"What did you s--"

"(Y/N)! (Y/N) and Bendy! The cartoon! He's real and she... she.."

This immediately captured the cult leader's attention. He descended upon the elderly woman, eye twitching and teeth bared with unbridled fury. "What? What?! What about (Y/N) and Bendy?! Tell me!"

Shaking, the lady pointed to her lips, shrank away at the face Drew made, then fainted.

A silence briefly met this. Then, without warning, Joey let out an inhuman screech and leaped onto the shocked college boy. "You! What do you know about this?!"

"N-Nothing, I... Nothing! I drove her here, I don't--"

More long, eerie caterwauls came from Joey as he took in the information and threw a fit beside the cool forms of Alice and Sammy.

On the floor, the college boy was also having an internal crisis. Now he knew why that person who followed you around seemed so familiar. Now he knew why he had caught a glimpse of jet-black and a pair of horns.

Bendy wasn't even a person. He was an ink demon.

And you were _sleeping with him._

Disgust flared underneath his skin at this thought. It was a complete scandal. It was horrific, against every law of nature, and you did it anyway. His throat closed up and spots danced over his eyes and he could barely hear Joey calming himself down and speaking to Alice.

"Take them to the Ink Machine," he ordered snappishly, breathing heavily with a flushed face. "I want to see if that project I've been working on can be done."

Alice blinked at him with narrowed eyes and nodded. Satisfied, her creator then began conversing wildly with Sammy, snarling things about sheep and virginity and Bendy.

The college boy didn't even try to understand this. He simply met Alice's hard stare, swallowing heavily, ready to accept his fate.

"Come along, now," she cooed in a sickly sweet, harsh tone, venom dripping off of every word. "We're just going to cheat death."

His blood turned to ice at her last few words.

"I promise it won't hurt a bit."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, the old Alice can't come to the phone right now.
> 
> Why?
> 
> 'Cause she's dead!


	19. Episode

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She's drunk on old cartoons, liquid TV afternoons.
> 
> Sometimes it makes me laugh.
> 
> Sometimes it makes me sad.
> 
> (Warning! This chapter is pretty NSFW. At this point, I recommend you skedaddle if you don't particularly enjoy reading scenes like... this.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *falls in through the roof*
> 
> *inhales*
> 
> OHMYGODIAMSOSORRYTHISUPDATEISLATEIWASNOTEXPECTINGITTOTAKETHISLONGIGOTSIDETRACKEDIAMSOSORRYIAMSORRYIAMSORRYIAMSORRY
> 
> *clears throat*
> 
> I'm sorry this update took longer than usual, y'all. I got a bit sidetracked with... *looks at fics* Other things, and plus this week has sucked anyway. First off, the grading period ending yesterday, and I was super stressed about that, and second off, for some reason my emotions have been all outta whack for no particular reason sO
> 
> I am sorry.
> 
> Anyway, this chapter is pretty long and, um, NSFW, so I hope that makes up for it...?
> 
> This is where I recommend you hightail it if you're not into that stuff. I mean, you can still read the chapter, but when I post that warning down in the text below, you better run for your life. Yeah.
> 
> You aren't losing your virginity or anything but hey! You come pretty damn close.
> 
> So, yeah, grades suck, I'm sorry for my shit update schedule, don't like then don't read, enjoy!

A thin sheen of dew shimmered across drooping blades of glass. Pale sunlight spilled across the droplets, illuminating them like daylight stars. The previous heat of the last few days had cooled to a comfortable, almost fall-like temperature, with most of the humidity being released by the storm last night. It also helped that a breeze occasionally sighed across the land and shifted the once placid dew drops. They rolled off of their respectful blades of grass or leaves and plopped to soundlessly to the ground. Some remaining flecks of water were sprayed into the air by the rebound of the foliage as it sprang back to its upright position, free from the weight resting upon their verdant surface.

Our specific little bird was splashed by a few of these small droplets. It had decided to take refuge underneath a nearby, well-groomed hedge that was reveling in the loss of its caretaker. When a few of the strangely warm droplets hit its fluffed feathers, the bird drew its shattered wing closer to its body and hooted in trepidation. This was the only sanctuary it could reach without the assistance of flight and anxiety was already driving the poor avian to shambles. The entire night was spent in sickening fear and not a wink of sleep. Every hoot of an owl or bark of a fox seemed impending and the bird could have sworn that savagely glowing eyes had been scrutinizing it from all directions. Without means of escape, any predator could take advantage of the small and tasty creature, and the avian most certainly did not want its weakness to be discovered and taken advantage of.

There was also the issue of a food source. Yes, it could scavenge beneath the boughs of the hedge, but where would it be when the limited food supply of insects and grubs was exhausted? What if a flock of birds caught wind of a weak link in the vicinity and decided to stop by? What if its wing never healed?

A pit of dread opened up inside the bird and it collapsed inward, shuddering. This jerky movement caused a bolt of pain to shoot through its broken wing and it barely managed to stifle a shriek at the feeling. More drops of water permeated the bird's feathers at the sudden disturbance. Not wanting to risk another painful shock, it huddled as still as a statute, allowing the warm liquid to trickle down its wings. Another faint gale whispered through the hedge and thus, another soaking was endured. Sunlight dappled the ground where the bird was perched. It looked up at the source of the glow with wide optics. If there was one thing it would miss about flight, then it would be the feeling of that soft natural light across its wings as it soared weightlessly through the heavens, utterly free.

With a mournful hoot, the avian began internally weeping for all that had been lost.

Inside one of the houses by the hedge, you were just beginning to stir from a peaceful slumber, twitching slightly and letting your eyes flicker open for only the briefest of moments. It was a struggle to open them fully but when you finally did, you immediately felt like closing them again. Not only were the covers silky and inviting, there was also a warm and strangely purring presence that had you pressed against its chest.

It didn't take long for you to infer that you had once again accidentally fallen asleep in Bendy's room.

After a familiar panic, a brief rundown of last night's events, and some attempts to not curl further into the grip the ink demon had on you, you could safely say that you hadn't done anything out of the ordinary and that your virginity was perfectly intact.

Sadly.

Bendy had simply dragged you up to his room again after giving you another "formal invite" and then insisted that his idea of formal attire was wearing nothing at all. His attempts were shot down by a few deadpan glares from you, though that hadn't particularly fazed him. The memory of the ink demon bowling you over multiple times without warning was still fresh in your mind. Reminiscing about his stupid but grudgingly endearing antics made you involuntarily melt against his chest and a stupid smile worked its way onto your face.

This, however, was distracting you from your main task of finding a way out of his death grip. It seemed loose at first but the moment you tried pushing against his skinny arms, it was like his ink had turned into steel. There was seemingly no escape. Even then, you were determined to prove this dismaying revelation wrong. With a few more struggles and close-calls, you had managed to wriggle out his grip, leaving behind the still asleep devil.

Then you noticed the tail curled around your ankle.

It took a few more jerks to rid yourself of this thin appendage but you were eventually free. An unidentifiable bulge rustled underneath the sheets until you spilled out and tumbled to the ground. A soft gasp escaped you at the sudden cold and you were almost tempted to rejoin Bendy but a single glance back to the prison you had escaped stiffened your resolve. The ink demon had shifted in your absence, now grasping the comforter instead of you while it was pulled nearly all the way over his head. You could barely see the tips of his horns as the bed rose and fell with the sound of his soft growls. It was both cute and ironic, considering the cartoon's opinion on sleeping. If it's so useless, then why do it?

You marveled at his hypocrisy while sauntering off to your own bedroom because somehow, your pants had mysteriously disappeared, and you needed a clean outfit anyway. Once you had your clothes picked out, you retreated to the bathroom, giving yourself the freshening up you so badly needed. For some reason, you smelled like paper. It was nice but you really didn't feel like adopting the art supply scent that Bendy had (no matter how much you enjoyed it). The smell that had rubbed off on you was replaced with some kind of unidentifiable shampoo. You weren't sure exactly what the smell was but at least it wasn't horrible and it served the dual purpose of making you presentable. You took your time getting ready, not only because you woke up practically at the asscrack of dawn and you had extra time to burn, but also because you wanted to see if Bendy would awaken any time soon

Rivulets of soapy water poured down your back and pooled at your feet. Wrinkling your nose, you shook off these extra droplets, stepped out of the steamy shower, and finished getting ready by drying off and throwing on your outfit. Now was the moment of truth. You padded off of the cool tile and onto fluffy carpet, gingerly closing the bathroom door behind you and pushing the entrance to Bendy's room back open to slip inside. Of course, the ink demon was still asleep. He had also managed to twist himself into a shape similar to that of a pretzel. He was facedown, with one horn covered by the sheets, thin legs splayed, and tail tip twitching while more soft snarls rumbled in the back of his throat. You rolled your eyes at this and strolled to the edge of the bed. The main thought on your mind was how on earth you were supposed to wake him up until a flash of white on the nightstand by the bed caught your eye. You allowed this distraction to reel in your gaze, then narrowed your eyes once they rested on the sleeping ink demon's pair of white gloves, strewn across the table, innocent and abandoned. The owner of these gloves forgotten, you crept alongside the edge of the bed to the nightstand warily, casting Bendy the occasional sidelong glance to make sure he was still pretzel knotted under the covers. Sure enough, he almost never stirred, only rolling over once lay flat on his back and growl at the ceiling. You would have wondered how he managed to be so angry while asleep but for now, there were more pressing matters at hand.

Like how damn _thin_ his fingers were.

You had now pulled on his gloves and they almost fit thickness-wise (length was an entirely different story, however. Like the rest of him, they were long as they were skinny). A mental note to make fun of him for having delicate, feminine fingers later was filed away and you returned your attention to the ink demon, furling and unfurling your hands at the unfamiliar feeling of his gloves. Then, in an attempt to awaken Bendy, you grabbed a nearby pillow and flung it viciously at his slightly twisted face. It made its mark with a thump and then rested on top of the devil to slowly suffocate him.

“What the hell,” came a muffled remark from underneath the cushion.

Realizing what was happening after a few disoriented moments, he scrabbled at the covers, kicked them off, then angrily flung the pillow across the room. His unamused black optics found your own glare, though it was flickering halfheartedly with mirth. A growl met your stare and Bendy tugged the sheets back over his head, turning away from you.

“That's not how you say good morning,” you commented and pulled at the edge of the blanket.

The ink demon foiled your attempts with a bad-tempered lash of his tail and more yanking. “There is no such thing as a good morning and take off my damn gloves.”

“No”

“They don't even fit'cha.”

“They sorta do. They're just too long.”

“So they don't fit.”

“They sorta do.”

“If they're too long, then they don't fit. There's no gray area with this. Take 'em the hell off.”

“Not until you get up. I'm taking you to work again and if you make me late then I'll kill you.”

By now, the ink demon had somewhat woken up and peered at you from under the sheets, most of his face hidden in shadow. “And what if I didn’t move. What if I did that.”

“Then I'm not going to have fun taking out the enormous ink stain you'll leave on my comforter. Also, you've already left spots on here. Yeah, I noticed that. You better pray to god that they come out because if they don't then you'll be reduced to a spot on here with them.” With that happy note, you finally managed to pull the blanket off of him and then said in satisfaction, “So there. Now go put on something to cover your face.”

Bendy glared at you from his place on the bed, then coming to terms with the fact that you were unwavering, he rolled off of the plush surface opposite from you and crumpled to the floor. You watched this display with disdain and began pulling off his gloves.

As if reading your mind, the ink demon poked his head out over the edge and started to ask, “Can I have my gl--”

They met his face with a stinging slap and he had to stifle a squeak at the sudden covering over his eyes.

“Thanks,” he deadpanned, disappearing from view once more.

A laugh bubbled out of you and you continued watching as Bendy straightened up, pulled on his gloves, and started tearing through his trainwreck of a dresser.

“It's only been how long and you already need to clean your drawers out,” you commented offhandedly and watched him from half-lidded eyes as you sat criss-cross in the middle of his bed.

“I've a system,” he protested and pulled out a pair of jeans and sweatshirt, as usual.

“A disaster isn't a system.”

“It can be. See? I found stuff,” he insisted, laying out a randomly found outfit. “Why be clean and able to find stuff when you can be a mess and still able to find stuff?”

“You found that on accident.”

“Did not.”

“Did too.”

“Did _not_.”

“Did _too_.”

"Ya sound like a twelve-year-old."

"You sounded like one first."

"This really isn't helpin' your case," he said breezily and started unbuttoning the jeans he had worn to bed, satisfied with his outfit put together by chance. The forgotten article of clothing landed in heap at his feet.

It was all you could do to not put your head in your hands and melt into a blushing mess at the sight of him wearing the boxers you so embarrassedly picked out for him.

Bendy, noticing this, curled his tail and grinned. "I dunno why this bothers ya when most of the time I don't even wear stuff. Then again, just because I don't show it off all the time like humans do doesn't mean I don't have anything."

"Is this supposed to make me feel better?" you asked, chewing on the inside of your cheek as you watched him awkwardly pull on another pair of pants, trying to keep his tail sticking out.

"Nah, just me thinkin' about the human fascination with procreation for fun." A plain white tee (not the band) and hoodie were then added to the ink demon's attire. "Humans're parasites."

"I'm not sure whether to be offended or agree with you," you wondered aloud, releasing some of the tension that had built up in your shoulders and tightly curled fingers once he was fully dressed.

"How 'bout both," Bendy offered, then added absentmindedly as he strode out of the room, "At the same time."

You called after him, “That doesn't make any sense!” Then slid off the bed to scurry down the stairs in his wake. By the time you made it down, the ink demon was already disappearing around a corner to the kitchen, though you weren't too far behind. Once you were almost directly upon him, you yanked his tail back, scurried ahead of him, then laughed at the way his expression twisted when he yelped at the sudden jerk on his tail. He skidded to a pause and hissed while cupping his tail to check it for any damage. To his relief, there was none, and Bendy retaliated by scurrying over to where you had started preparing your breakfast and pinning you to the counter, refusing to move until you kissed him.

You gave him a hard thump on his chest.

The ink demon moved anyway, though it was probably because of the sudden hit, judging by the way he wheezed and keeled over.

Between this feud you had started and the time Bendy wasted this morning by taking approximately forever to get out of bed (aside from the fact that he thought sleep was stupid yet did it anyway), you barely had a break before you had to go to work with him again. It wasn't like you were complaining. In sharp contrast to a few weeks ago, you actually quite enjoyed his presence, however much of a prick he decided to be that day.

You had finally fallen in love with Bendy, and you were sure to not forget that.

Proving this revelation in the short thirty minutes you had before leaving, you curled against the devil's skinny side while waiting for the clock to tick by, tracing the lines of one of his palms through his glove.

"Why do you have these on your hand if there's no point?" You murmured into his sweatshirt, referring to said lines.

"Why do I breathe if there's no point?" He answered your question with another question in retort, then added in forethought, "Probably to make me more human than I really am."

"Okay."

"D'you have any other criticisms for my physical appearance?"

"Noodle arms."

The arm Bendy had curled around your waist in the absence of his tail stiffened as he scoffed, "I do _not_ have noodle arms."

"You do. You're like one of those blowups that mattress stores put outside their shop that wave their arms," you insisted, tapping a finger in the middle of his palm as another thought came to you. "You also have Pacman eyes."

"They do _not_ look like Pacman."

"They do. But that's okay. I like your eyes." Your own optics met the narrowed ones you had been complimenting. A smile ghosted over your lips.

"Anything else I should know about?" He goaded disdainfully and tried to not grin back down at you, instead glaring at the ceiling.

"Your horns. They keep putting holes in my walls."

"I only did that once and it was on accident.”

“Well, guess what we're adding to the list.”

“What?”

“I'm gonna teach you how to plaster walls. Now come on, we need to get going.”

Silencing the protests he had against fixing the holes in your wall and having to get up and be active, you squeezed his hand, pressed your lips against his briefly, then unfurled yourself from his side to scamper down the hall to the front of your house. Bendy tumbled off the sofa after you, angrier over you pulling away from him than the threat of him having to fix your wall. This frustration was somewhat released when he snuck up behind you while you were putting your shoes on and leaping onto your back. Despite being lanky, he was also quite tall, so the extra weight made you topple over with the ink demon on top of you. A few angry thrashes later, you pulled yourself free and snapped at Bendy to stand in the corner of your dining room and think about his life while you finished getting ready so he wouldn't bother you anymore. Disgruntled black eyes were fixated on you the entire time as if their owner was planning more creative ways to get revenge. Not looking forward to whatever the surly cartoon was scheming, you waved him out of the corner of shame, trying to not laugh when he stalked up to your side with a distasteful expression.

You opened the door for yourself but Bendy, who had decided to begin his reign of terror, shoved you out of the way and bolted ahead down your porch and then the path to your driveway, flipping his hood up at the last minute. An angry yowl was thrown after the ink demon, much to his amusement. Sigh rumbling in your throat, you nearly stumbled over yourself and stepped outside, breathing in the crisp air. It was refreshing after the previously muggy atmosphere that had settled over the town. Now you were able to appreciate the cherry blossoms scattered over the sidewalk and stray dewdrops the had yet to be burned away by the mild sunlight. Somehow, the scene felt sharper, clearer, fresher. Then you looked up to where Bendy was grinning at you from beside your car, and everything else fell away. For all of your complaints about being late, you took your time on the short walk, so much so that even Bendy had begun to get impatient.

“You're the one who wanted to leave, so come on,” he urged, tugging at the locked door on the passenger side, nearly ready to fling himself in through the window.

“Don't break my car,” you warned him, unlocked the vehicle, and slipped in, starting the ignition one Bendy had tumbled onto the seat beside you.

The moment he closed the door after settling inside he flipped back his hood, purred loudly, and tried leaning over your armrest to pull your face towards his. You grimaced at Bendy and pushed him away roughly by one of his long horns. His purrs were then stuttered with a few snickers that drowned out even the noise of your car starting. With pursed lips, you tried not to laugh with the ink demon and turned in your seat to watch for passing cars as you backed out of your driveway. Bendy, being the idiot that he was, decided that you were finally returning the affection he had tried to show instead of driving, and slid his hand underneath your chin while crooning softly. Only when you snapped at him to put his seatbelt on and leave you alone did he pull away. A click confirmed that he had followed your orders, as well as grumbling over you being a humorless ass (déjà vu, anyone?).

Rolling your eyes and chewing on the inside of your cheek to keep a grin from forming over your scowl, you backed into the main road, shifted into drive, then rumbled away from your home with the cartoon who somehow managed to capture your affection (no matter how much of a tsundere you were). To refrain from casting your gaze over to said demon, who was already staring avidly out the window and trying to not thump his hidden tail on the seat out of habit, you glanced in your rearview mirror briefly. You wished you hadn't.

Most of the anxiety that you had been suppressing for the last few days came rushing back in an unwanted, tumultuous riptide, threatening to drag you out to a sea of panic. Your knuckles whitened against the steering wheel, teeth gritted, and you found that you were unable to rip your gaze away from the mirror where your neighbors’ houses were disappearing into the distance. Bendy, looking over at you to start entertaining himself with snide remarks, noticed the sudden change and his stupid half-grin fell away to concern.

“Are you okay?” He spoke up cautiously, now having no problem with keeping his tail still.

When you didn't answer immediately, he trailed your gaping eyes to the mirror and managed to catch a brief eyeful of the street you left behind before it dissolved on the sharp blue horizon. Bendy glared at the source of your apprehension and then broke the silence again.

“Assholes. You shouldn't let it get to ya right now. Honestly, ya should be glad they crawled back under whatever rock they came outta. I never really thought douchebag would carry out his promise bullshit, anyway; he's a college kid who's lost half of his brain cells, and the fossil probably thinks she’s gone looney. Good riddance, too.”

For all of his brave words, there was a slight tremble in his tone. You caught this and let go of some of your anxiety to find the humor in Bendy's hypocrisy.

“I don't know why you keep trying to pretend it doesn't bother you,” you remarked on your now shared fear, loosening your tensed shoulders and trying to keep from shivering violently.

“It doesn't.”

A deadpan glare made him wither slightly.

“Okay, it does, but only 'cause _you_ made me anxious. This is your doing. Now I'm just as worried as you 'n I hate it.”

“You're welcome,” you laughed and expelled the last of your fears, tilting your head over to him to share a quick kiss before you were in dire need of watching the road.

Bendy then took to pressing himself against the window and hissing at small children passing by on their way to the school you saw on the way to work. This was amusing for the first few seconds until the array of nonhuman noises he made started getting on your nerves. Besides the fact that you were currently driving, you decided that now was as good as any time to start organizing your thoughts on the main two problems facing you. First, the longest standing threat: college douche. You hadn't seen him around for quite awhile, which was strange. You figured that someone like him would simply throw an intense yet meaningless fit of rage before removing himself from your life entirely, leaving behind no lasting damage. Giving himself time to plan was out of character and immensely disconcerting. Then again, he was only a college kid, and you weren't too sure that he had the brainpower for an elaborate scheme like revenge. This somewhat reassured you. If you couldn't deal with him yourself, then Bendy could always sneak into his house and release the vicious stray tabby cat that had now become a regular to your backyard, much to the ink demon's dismay.

He wasn't important. You moved on.

Now, fossil. That was something else entirely. She was also silent for the time being but this held much more foreboding than college douche. Either she was slowly driving herself insane or she was brewing silently, waiting for the perfect moment to spill over like an overflowing sink. There was no way someone like her would be able to keep something like what she saw in. Gossip was her life. Teenagers were the bane of it. Perhaps the only thing to save her from shattering would be telling everyone about you practically trying to tear off Bendy's pants in your backyard.

You shuddered.

She was a wild card, plain and simple.

Before this could bring back your internal tempest, the strip mall where you worked at came into view, punctuated by Bendy starting to rap his fingers against the window. You told him to knock it off. He then banged his hands against the glass and cackled. The only thing keeping you from reducing him to an ink stain on your seat was knowing that you were only a minute away from parking. When you finally picked a spot, you stopped the car, slapped Bendy on his arm and yanked his hood up, then jumped out before he could retaliate. Crisp, cool air greeted you with a caress on your cheek and the sun glittered overhead, bright as always but not overbearing. A violent shade of baby blue was painted across the heavens, scuttled with a few clouds here and there. You didn't have time to enjoy this before Bendy snuck up behind you and pounced, replacing his death grip around your waist while a deafening purr rang in your ear as he placed his chin on your shoulder. After a few struggles, you managed to escape his hold, spit at the cartoon, and strode away swiftly to the store where you worked. He followed after you, still cooing as a gust of wind drowned out the sound.

The breeze almost stung your nose before you stepped into the small clothing store. You held the door open for Bendy grudgingly but were thanked by a slow blink from underneath his hood through softened black optics. In an attempt to not throw your arms around him at this gesture, you waved him off while suppressing a beam and told him to save your spot at the cash register. He protested at first until he realized that there was no one else there at the moment. Only then did the hooded cartoon agree to wait for you. He stalked away, slumped into your usual post, and watched with shadowed eyes as you made your way to the backroom where your nametag was waiting. You weren't too comfortable with leaving Bendy alone with the cash registers but you figured that he deserved some show of trust. Plus, you didn't want to deal with the habit he had made of pinning you to the wall whenever you were back there together. It wouldn't take long, anyway. What was the worst he could do in less than five minutes?

You found that out when you had finished your preparations of putting on your nametag and stashing your bag away. Bendy looked innocent enough by the time you sauntered back over to him but you had known him long enough to infer that something was afoot. Under his hood, you saw his eyes glimmer like sunlit pools of obsidian when they rested on your approaching figure.

“What did you do?” you demanded the moment you reached his side, giving him a funny look that was somewhere between exasperation and affection.

“I didn't do anything,” he sniffed, far too pleased to have been sitting in place like a good demon.

“Bendy.”

“What?”

“What did you do.”

“Say my name again?”

“Please don't make this weird.”

“Please don't make this weird.”

“ _Bendy_.”

“See! Ya said it again.”

“What did you do.”

“S'not what I wanted you to repeat.”

This was getting you absolutely nowhere. Gathering clues to his wrongdoing, you visually searched him and the surrounding area. Your eyes rested on where his hands were stuffed into his sweatshirt pockets. They looked strangely suspicious, though you couldn't place your finger on why that was.

You furrowed your brow, looked back up at the ink demon who was staring at you with a goofy grin, then ordered, “Take your hands out of your pockets.”

“My pockets?” Bendy echoed uncertainly.

“Yes, your pockets, take our hands out of them.”

Even before he obeyed, his smile took on a vaguely guilty aspect. He pulled his hands out of his pockets and out poured a torrent of silver and copper coins.

“Bendy!” You snapped, watching as a few more quarters spilled out to join their brethren scattered over the floor.

“What?” Came the ink demon’s nonchalant and falsely innocent reply as he picked out a few more stray coins from his sweatshirt.

“Are you kidding me?!”

“They're shiny.”

“Yes, thank you, I can see that,” you sighed in exasperation. “Of all the things you could do, and you do this?”

“Yes!”

The beginning of your shift was spent picking up each individual coin while Bendy tried kicking them away and stealing them back. Luckily, there were no customers who came up to you, which made your task only a bit less aggravating. To make it worse, when you had finished picking up all the coins, the phone began ringing. You scuffled with the ink demon at your side over who got to answer it but in the end, you proved victorious. Bendy sulked a few paces away from as you silenced the bothersome ringing and answered with an unintelligible grunt that could have meant anything.

"Hi, (Y/N)!" The voice of the employee who was supposed to be sharing your shift blared on the other end. "Sorry this is on such short notice but I can't come in today. I'm real sorry, something just came up, but I'll be there next week, so cover for me just this once?"

You should have seen it coming. Swallowing a bitter retort, you replied dryly, "Sure."

"Alright, thanks! I owe you one." Static sounded and signaled the end of your terse exchange.

"Who was that?" Bendy inquired, creeping up behind you once you put the phone down with a sour expression on your face.

By now, customers had started creeping in. A pack of the usual middle-aged ladies slunk past in their hunt, some teenagers who required a new outfit to collect dust in their closet so much so that they skipped school to shop drifted around, and you saw a few lost looking husbands ambling aimlessly in the wake of their wife's disappearance into the dauntingly endless clothing displays.

Instead of answering his question, you wondered, "You wanna learn how to work a cash register?"

A slowly forming grin told you all you needed to know.

Not even five minutes after you taught Bendy the basics, you had already begun regretting it. There was no way you could have handled everything by yourself and you had a perfectly able (using the term lightly) demon behind you just waiting for something to amuse himself with. You just happened to forget his lack of social skills when asking him if he wanted to help.

In turn, you had to keep him from cursing at clueless customers, calling a particularly idiotic character a glitter-dick, stealing coins from the cash register, and making the occasional death threat on top of explaining why it was unprofessional to make out on top of a shopping cart.

It was nothing short of torture.

While you were wallowing in your suffering, Bendy had started screeching "Joke's on you, dickhead, those clothes double as my cumrag!" after a particularly irritating customer he had dealt with.

Your work was never complete. You looked up from the seat you were slumped in, kicked the ink demon in his shin, then started whispering furiously about common courtesy. He tried silencing you with a kiss. It was ineffective.

The end of the shift couldn't have come sooner. Once you saw the employee for the next round walk in, it was all over. You hurriedly put away your nametag, reclaimed your bag, then dragged Bendy out of the store while telling him how much of a horrible worker he would make. He seemed unfazed by this and only laughed, then showed off all of the coins he managed to steal while you weren't looking.

"They're shiny," he repeated to your annoyance, his beam glowing in the afternoon sun.

The sky was still a vibrant shade of dark blue and even though the air had increased a few degrees along with the peak of the sun, it was still refreshingly cool. A few streaks of orange contrasted to the azure shade in foreshadowing of what will be a brilliant sunset. Your attention on the drive drifted both due to this fresh scene and Bendy distracting you by showing off the coins he had stolen from the store while you weren't paying attention. In spite of yourself, you burst out laughing when he held out the fistfuls of change, and the almost elated grin the devil gave at this reaction made your slip up worth it. The rest of the ride was spent with you trying to stop giggling while he counted the exact amount of wealth he had "borrowed", using his term. You didn't even give an offhanded glance to your foreboding neighbors' houses while stepping out of the car with Bendy and linking arms with him as you made your way up to the home the ink demon adopted as his.

"I'm rich now," he breathed mirthfully in your ear while you fumbled with your keys, his cool breath not really helping your struggle. "You won't have to work. I'll buy you everything. A new house. An island." He paused. "A plane."

The keys in your hand had stopped shaking and you hastily unlocked the door before they slipped from your grasp, then stepped inside the welcoming entrance, dragging Bendy in with you. "As flattering as that is, I'm not a particularly materialistic person and I don't much appreciate you acting like you have to buy me over."

The fervent daydreams of Bendy continued on as if he hadn't noticed your protests. "Yeah, I'll get an island _with_ a plane. I'll buy my own fuckin' country. Then I'll start a dictatorship 'n take over Canada."

"What did Canada ever do to you, Hitler?"

This made the ink demon falter. He turned to you, hissing softly, but there was still an amused glitter in his obsidian gaze. You easily shrugged him off with a laugh and said, "You know I'm joking. Now, c'mon, I need to change and you can hoard your coins in your room. Though next time, remember that you shouldn't steal things."

"Okay," he said in a tone that made you believe that he didn't really see anything wrong with what he did. "I wanna change my pants, too."

"No shirt?"

"What's a shirt?"

You laughed and strode down the hall to bound up the stairs, Bendy never too far behind. He tried convincing you to change in his room with him once you made it upstairs. You denied.

After many refusals to take off your clothes for him and a change into comfortable attire, you finally had some downtime in your living room. The two of you were curled up in front of the TV while the dark sunset foreshadowed a few hours earlier bled through a window over the small room. Bendy had claimed the remote and you really didn't feel like moving away from the quite snug place you had against his bare chest to fight for it, so of course, his show had been displayed proudly on the television. It was more disconcerting than you thought, watching the cartoon with the literal main character beside you. Whenever something was about to happen, you always felt him tense up a few minutes before it did, and the emotions flickering across the TV version of him were reflected across the real version's a few moments before they actually appeared. It was giving you anxiety and besides, you didn't want to deal with that confusion after a busy day of trying to morph the ink demon into a good retail worker.

"Can we _please_ watch something else," you begged, trying to reach over his lap for the remote.

Bendy simultaneously tightened both the arm and tail he had wrapped around your waist. "Nah."

"You obviously already know what's going to happen."

"Of course I do, that's me," he scoffed, referring to the TV with a toss of his horned head. _"I_ did that. But I didn't, at the same time? So whenever I see it, s'almost like déjà vu. _I_ did that. I sortz remember doin' those things. Just, um, not really. Not _here_. I did it there."

Nothing but pure discombobulation flooded your features. "You lost me."

The ink demon sighed. "I know. I guess I can change this if ya don't have the IQ to watch it."

"That has nothing to do with watching a show," you jabbed his chest, which had started heaving with laughter. "Give me the remote."

When he didn't hand it to you, you took the controller and started surfing through the channels, eventually landing on the news when you realized nothing else was on. Bendy decided this was hilarious and laughed even harder.

"How exactly is this funny?" You wondered, mystified by his inappropriate response.

"'Cause it is," came his dissatisfying wheezy response.

"That's not an answer."

Bickering over each other's sense of humor, the two of you didn't notice the two oddly familiar faces displayed on the TV screen while a grim reporter described the dubious topics revolving around the two seemingly unlinked missing persons accounts. It wasn't until Bendy silenced your protests with a quick peck did he finally look over and see it. College douche and fossil, both gone randomly missing at what appeared to be the same time. It was immensely hard to not to start choking while his lips were still pressed against yours and he pulled away jerkily to gawk at the programming.

Put off by the sudden dismissal, you glared at him and started, "Why'd you--"

He cut you off by tilting your head over to the TV with one hand, not even looking at you as he did so. His eyes were all for the television. You were jealous over a fucking box.

Silently fuming, your smoldering optics landed on the pictures. Then the missing headline. Then they returned to Bendy.

A few moments later, he met your surprised gaze. There was a brief silence, though it was punctuated by reporter shaking their head dreadfully and explaining what a "tragedy" it was.

Then it was like someone set a bomb off underneath Bendy.

"I told'ja not to worry!" The devil purred loudly and bowled you over so that your shocked self was pinned down on the sofa. "I told'ja and now what! I was right!"

"Okay, okay, but--" You began and had to grit your teeth to keep yourself from squealing when he pressed his face to your neck and started nipping fervently at the exposed skin. "D-Don't you think that m-maybe it's a little weird that they both went missing, probably at the same t-time!" Your voice raised at the end mainly due to the ink demon on top of you sinking his fangs into your neck.

"Nope," he answered huskily, eyes glittering from both the noises that started tumbling from your slightly parted lips and the sudden weight that had been taken off of his shoulders. "I was right. I knew it. I _knew_ it. I think I should win somethin', actually."

(If you haven't noticed, then if you don't wanna read anything NSFW, I suggest you remove yourself from the immediate vicinity at this moment.)

"Really?" A permanent squeak had now crept into your voice.

"Really," he crooned back, his gaze slowly melting. "Now I can do whatever the hell I want without worryin' 'bout anything."

 _Whatever_ you _want,_ you repeated nervously and swallowed before Bendy pulled you in for the deepest kiss he ever gave you.

The familiar taste of ice and paper consumed you once his thin tongue began to trace your lips. Admittedly, he was right about not having to worry anymore. Every moment you had with him before now was overshadowed with threats of being caught, being found out, but now that was gone. You hadn't realized just how much of a perilous situation you were in until the hazards were gone.

Too bad you conveniently forgot about the growing envy and rage of a fallen angel, who was now tainted with the sin of murder.

Could you really blame yourself that you weren't exactly pondering on what Alice was doing at the moment when you were tangled with Bendy? No, you couldn't. Having an ink demon moaning softly into your mouth while sliding his hips against yours was pretty distracting, after all, especially if you had been obsessing over the thought for weeks.

While you were slowly working your hands down from his shoulders to his chest to hopefully the waistband of the sweatpants he was wearing, the TV had been magically muted, eliminating that distraction. It would have been much more effective if you turned it off, however. Before you could address this problem, the remote had been forgotten in light of Bendy slipping his hands up your shirt while pulling his tongue away from where it was pressing against the inside of your cheek.

"(Y/N)," he panted and traced a finger across the strap of your bra so faintly it might as well have never been there.

You answered him by biting your lip and pulling off your shirt. The unneeded article of clothing fell to the floor to be forgotten.

At this moment, Bendy wished he hadn't put on sweatpants. They didn't do much to hide the painfully obvious bulge that had twitched slightly at the sudden exposure of your chest. The ink demon pulled back a bit, almost in disbelief, raking his widened eyes across the skin you decided to show off. Underneath him, you weren't sure what to make of this reaction. You bit your lip harder and flushed, shrinking away from his scrutinizing stare, almost wishing you hadn't thrown off your shirt in the heat of the moment.

Then Bendy looked back up at you.

And everything else fell away.

Even you couldn't tell yourself that you imagined the look of near predatorial hunger and intense love in his obsidian eyes. Before you could really revel in this revelation, the devil crashed his lips onto yours and let a dark gray blush spread over his face to match the one on your own. His gloved hands trembled as they ran up your sides and you could practically taste the desperation seeping through him. It didn't bother you, however. In fact, the exact same feeling was sweeping over you at that moment. Bendy tilted his head away again, a tremor going through his tail as he repositioned his lips on your collarbone. You gasped and arched your back as a hot bolt of need went down your spine and pooled between the growing ache between your thighs. A rumbling purr replied to you as well as a forked tongue flickering across your skin. Your cries only increased in frequency as the ink demon began making his way down one agonizingly slow caress at a time, until he finally was panting heavily against your cleavage.

He looked up to where your head was tilted back and jaw hung as you whispered his name gave a few unintelligible begs.

He smirked to himself, then flickered his tongue over one of your breasts, following the line of your bra. Goosebumps immediately spread over your skin and you shuddered. Bendy, noticing this, continued placing soft kisses along your chest while carefully watching the expressions you made. To his relief, he was doing something right, judging by the way your teeth chattered and blush grew darker. Some of his wariness fell away at this realization and he lapped at your chest with a steady pace. Your eyes fluttered shut and you reached one hand up to his horns, tugging at it as he continued pressing his face against your chest. A dark growl escaped him at the pull and you felt your stomach drop.

Without warning, he shook off your grip and hauled himself back up to your face for another openmouthed kiss. While the ink demon did this, he reached a hand to your back and began fumbling with the clasp of your bra. You managed to half roll your eyes at this and halted the kiss. Instead of helping Bendy with his struggle to take off the restricting attire, you traced your hands down his stomach and pressed a palm against the thick and quite obvious outline in his pants. He immediately stiffened against you and ceased the yanking on your bra. Biting your lip again, you took away your palm and traced his length through his sweatpants with a thumb.

Bendy hated the way he gasped and involuntarily bucked forward against your touch. It was done, however. You pressed your palm back against the bulge and began rubbing it against him almost teasingly. Bendy was supposed to be the one who was a tease. Not you.

For all of his internal conflicts, the ink demon curled his thin tail at the sudden pressure against his cock and rolled his hips forward, stifling a soft groan. You yourself couldn't believe that you had managed to reduce Bendy to this hot mess on top of you but didn't complain as you gently squeezed his length through his pants.

He finally let out a tight moan.

You silently thanked the meager experience you gained throughout high school and continued giving Bendy what could barely be considered a hand job. Hell, he still had his pants on, but that didn't mean you couldn't try goading him into tearing them off.

The flushed devil gritted his fangs as he continued needily humping against your hand. His stare was glazed as he looked up to where you were watching him with wide eyes, then he broke the gaze by hanging his head and mewling. That was a new sound. You added it to the mental library of hisses, purrs, and growls that came from Bendy.

Apparently, the source of these inhuman noises decided that he had had enough of being diminished to a shivering puddle of ink and snarled, slapping your hand away and once again descending upon you. Your bra was torn off and out bounced exactly what Bendy was looking for with an accompanying huff from you. One of his still gloved hands came up to knead at your freed breasts. Your legs trembled at the sudden cool air being breathed across you. Bendy heard you gasp as he blew across your chest, much to his pleasure. He purred, traced a thumb across one of your nipples, then took the other in his mouth.

A cry escaped you at the sudden feeling of his forked tongue and fangs. You wrapped your legs around his waist, pulling him flush against you as he sucked gingerly at your skin and let his tongue swirl across your hardened nipple. The ink demon broke off from the touch much too soon for your liking but your incoming protests were silenced when he ground his hips against yours and began to once more bite at your neck. You tilted your head over to the muted TV that was still left on, though it didn't bother you too much with your eyes shut tight.

The first mistake you made was opening them.

You were immediately greeted with a status update on the strange disappearances of your neighbors. A new reporter had taken over the case, obviously saying something in a rush, but it wasn't what you were concerned about.

What really caught your eye was the new headline that read **MISSING: LAST SEEN NEAR JOEY DREW STUDIOS**

"Wait!" You gasped and scrabbled against the ink demon on top of you, who had started to fiddle with the button of your jeans.

It was like an electric shock had been sent through Bendy. His eyes snapped open and he leaped backward like he really had been electrocuted.

"'M sorry!" He immediately yelped, eyes wide and face still flushed deep gray. "I-I'm sorry, I--"

"No, I'm sorry!" You squealed back, completely mortified by what you had just ruined, "I'm the one who's sorry, I... I can't, th-they... it... I can't..."

Your eyes flickered away from the utterly embarrassed face of Bendy over to the TV but the status update had already faded away. After the intense pleasure you had felt, then shock, you were left with nothing but shame and guilt. "I'm sorry."

The ink demon didn't say anything and watched guiltily as you picked your shirt off from the ground and threw it on, not looking at him the entire time.

"I'm sorry," you repeated in a whisper, still refusing to meet his stare as you stood up and backed away from the sofa and retreated to the staircase.

A trance-like state enveloped you as you started stumbling up the steps, shaking violently. The abashed expression of Bendy followed you the entire way up, burning itself into your mind along with just how amazing it felt a few moments before you ruined it all.

You stumbled into your room, slumped onto the bed, ignored the chastising look the Bendy plush placed on your dresser gave you, and tried forgetting about the hot ache between your thighs along with the sinister threat of Joey Drew Studios.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um...
> 
> So...
> 
> How's about that weather, or, uh, reading...
> 
> I'm just gonna, y'know-- *points over shoulder* --go now, so...
> 
> *bolts away*
> 
> pEACE OUT, RAINBOW TROUT


	20. Keys

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You could unlock anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey it's TK and I have absolutely nothing to say besides enjoy the chapter today! Yay!
> 
> *wheezes* THAT WAS A MOUTHFUL

Saturday came along with much less awkwardness expected in the days leading up to it. In exchange for this small comfort, however, the temperature was back and it was hotter than ever. Dew burned off of the grass only seconds after sunrise and filled the air with a stifling humidity. A few children trudged along the sidewalk, desperately wishing that for a neighborhood pool and both dreading and hoping for summer break. On one hand, they would be free from the prison known as education and the burden of schoolwork would be lifted off of their small shoulders, but on the other, it would make the weight of home issues all the more heavier. Running away would be a bust, they knew that, so the idea had been scrapped. This left them with approximately zero plans. They could tell an adult, but could they really trust their elders after seeing just how much damage they were capable of?

Decidedly, the answer was no.

So there they were, fretfully kicking pebbles on the sidewalk and conversing mournfully, marveling at how quickly their childhood had been ripped away. A few cars passed them on their journey to nowhere in particular. Disapproving faces of formally-clad adults stared out at them from the driver's seat as if they were wondering who would let some defenseless children wander the streets of a big, bad city neighborhood. They were oblivious to these gazes, luckily, caught up in their own little world. At least, for the most part.

There, across a certain someone's driveway, sat a fluffy little bird, who was scrounging for food while its wing splayed out awkwardly behind it. One of the kids noticed it with a gasping squeal and immediately perked up, tapping their older siblings on the shoulder and pointing frantically at the small avian.

"I want it!" They squeaked to the oldest, much to the middle child's distaste. "It's so cute, I want it!"

"I dunno," replied the oldest, shuffling their feet uncomfortably and lowering their head. "Don't birdos have, um, inflections?"

Infections. They meant to say infections.

"Don't care about inflections! I want it!" The youngest continued crooning.

While the youngest and oldest had started arguing, the middle child huffed and backed a few paces away, not appreciating being ignored. They looked over to the house beside the driveway and saw you, of course, walking out the front door with a strangely suspicious black puddle following in your shadow. You didn't notice the kids as you crossed the grass and jumped into your car, starting it with a dull roar. What the child was more focused on was the puddle that broke away from your shadow and darted around your car so quickly they might as well have been imagining it.

"Guys," the middle child made their way back to their bickering siblings and spoke up. "Guys, did ya see--"

It was to no avail. The oldest and youngest had continued their feud through silent temper tantrums after vowing to never speak to each other again.

Even further angered, the middle suddenly snapped, "Fine! I'll get the birdo if you're scared 'bout _inflections_!"

Now they had the others' attention. The youngest turned to their older sibling and beamed while the oldest simply looked disgruntled.

"But--" they started disapprovingly but their younger sibling broke them off.

"You're a butt!" The middle one squeaked back, whirled around, and nearly got ran over by the car backing out of your driveway.

A yelp escaped them, causing their other siblings to start screeching as well until it was an overall scream-fest.

"Oh my god!" You cried over their howls and popped your head out of your window. "Are you okay?"

"Ya nearly ran over the kiddos," a high, cold, and strangely familiar voice drifted out from the open window and you disappeared from the opening for a moment to shoot a withering look at the source, though it came off as more affectionate than anything.

Popping your head back out at the trembling and oblivious children (save for the suspicious middle sibling, who made a face like they smelled something distasteful), you repeated, "Are you okay?"

"Fine!" Squealed the youngest, then added under their breath, "'Cept for the birdo..."

"Well, don't play around cars," you advised, your expression a mixture of concern and amusement.

Now that the initial shock had worn off, the observant middle child began visually unraveling the scene before them. The owner of the stringent voice was still unidentified, though if they focused hard enough, they would have been able to see the faintest outline of hooked horns through one of the windows. You, on the other hand, were easy to be scrutinized. There was a certain seriousness about you. A hollowed look in your eyes that hadn't entirely been covered but there seemed to be a new glitter in them that was not there before as if someone was slowly melting down the stars and draining them back into your eyes to give them a new life-like quality.

Even if that someone claimed that the stars were disappointing.

"Just be more careful," you urged once more, disappeared back into your car, and backed fully or if the driveway while keeping a close eye on the children.

The siblings watched as you rolled away and faded over the horizon. When you were finally gone, the middle child completed their task and hurried over to where the bird was still crouched on the blacktop. At their approach, the avian looked up at who exactly was casting their shadow over it and chattered with fright. It trembled and pressed itself into the ground with no means of escape. That one confrontation with the college boy had forever scarred it, both physically and mentally.

As we know, the middle child meant no ill will. They cooed reassuringly to the little bird, crouched down, and scooped the trembling creature into their outstretched palm. The eldest child watched this in mute disapproval while the youngest had to suppress their squeaks and held their breath.

"S'okay," said the middle child in a cool, loving voice as they studied the tremors going through the bird's fluffy body and the broken wing splayed awkwardly behind it. A shadow flickered over their face.

"I'll take care of you now. Promise."

In the car that had nearly run them over, you sat slumped in your seat while yawning incessantly. This morning had been a rush, mainly because of your new habit of sleeping with Bendy. It slowed you down tremendously, no matter how content it made you feel. The content feeling, surprisingly enough, hadn't been tainted by Wednesday's afternoon events. The next few days leading up to when you had to return to the studio made it seem like nothing had even happened. Whether this was due to Bendy exercising his nasty habit of not caring or he actually thought it wasn't meant to be blown out of proportion, you didn't know, but you weren't complaining. What you had without the usual drama that accompanied relationships (especially with ink demons) was perfectly fine.

Well, no drama if you didn't count the oddly timed disappearances of your two neighbors. This was another thing Bendy decided to brush off and move on from. Now it was almost impossible to get him to hop off your ass wherever you went. Again, not that you were complaining. Apparently Bendy thought that everyone liked attention as much as he did, so translate that and your own (admittedly) starved for attention self and you get a surprisingly okay relationship, no matter how much you continued to feign enmity and dislike for him. For whatever reason, the ink demon got some kind of sick enjoyment out of being shot down constantly.

Bendy’s good mood had probably stayed intact throughout the week because you so guiltily withheld the exact whereabouts of the disappearances from him.

Sure, the news had said that the studio was where they had last been seen, not where they had gone missing, but if you were to believe that then you would have to be quite a dim human being. There was no other explanation for it. They must have gone to Joey Drew Studios, had something or other happen, then never reemerged from the workshop. Why they had disappeared was still a mystery. Being oblivious to the true colors of Joey Drew, you felt that you could safely assume that your secret was still safe and sound in the passenger seat beside you. That didn't do anything to explain why the unexpected duo had gone missing in the first place. You knew they were in the same boat as far as their hatred or disgust for you went, which explained their alliance, and you knew that college douche had probably sniffed out who exactly the person always following you around was, giving them both a motivation to descend upon the studio, though you weren't sure why they vanished.

If Bendy knew the full picture, then he could offer suggestions or a piece of the puzzle you were missing (a quite large piece, in fact), but there was that problem of you keeping information from him. You weren't sure why you made the decision to seal your lips. Something was holding you back but it could just be your over-analytical self. What if he thought you were accusing him (which was a possibility that had been immediately ruled out)? What if he shut down completely and reverted back to his old distant self? What if, what if, what if. The hunger for knowledge was never curbed, nor was your anxiety as the workshop came into view. It seemed innocent enough. Lonely, rundown, old, but innocent.

If the past month (has it been a month? It felt like a lifetime. The thought sent you reeling) has taught you anything besides that you are loved, then it would be that not everything is as it seems, especially when it came to the studio, even more so with the ink beings who claimed it as their stomping grounds.

While pulling into a free parking space in front of the studio, you cast a quick glance over to Bendy, who was staring out the window like an entranced canine on their way to the vet.

What do you know about the studio? You asked him internally, made an offhanded comment, gave him a quick kiss, then stepped out of the car.

A jet-black puddle followed in your shadow as you anxiously crept up to the studio. You were so busy worrying about what had happened at the studio that you forgot to fuss over what would happen. The realization made you stop dead in your tracks, one clammy hand resting on the doorknob of the entrance so that you were frozen in the exact same position that the college boy was in before forever sealing his fate. Though you were unaware of this bit of information, a distant echo of the scene lingered, giving you an unidentifiable chill down your spine.

You couldn't help it.

You gave a long, dramatic shudder and tightened your grip on the door.

Endless possibilities spiraled out before you but before you had the chance to examine even a single one, the puddle behind you splashed up angrily around your ankles. What made up Bendy was tired of waiting around while you were having your daily existential crisis over him. Swallowing your fear to cast an annoyed glance down to your now stained ankles, you turned the doorknob, stepped inside, and held open the entrance so that the ink puddle could ooze in after you.

Bendy reformed the instant he stepped in, much to your terror. Before you could fearfully chide him for this, he pressed his lips against yours then waved a hand over to the empty (for lack of a better word) welcoming hall.

"No one's watching, don't freak out," the ink demon drawled lazily while giving a smug grin.

This admittedly curbed some of your anxiety but still. It was the reason your neighbors were missing in the first place. If you kept letting Bendy taunt you with his carelessness then someone who actually held some authority over you would find out.

Too bad it already happened.

Even if you were unaware of it, your worst nightmare was being orchestrated behind closed doors.

"I know, but you can't just--" you started, only to be drowned out by the devil.

"I can do anything," he gushed in a fluttery voice.

You then reached a hand up to one of his horns to push him away playfully. So much for carefully examining every outcome of the day. Once again, Bendy managed to distract you. Whether it was for the better or for the worse, you didn't know.

What you did know was bitter taste of panic you felt when he brushed your hand away and said, "Alright, I gotta go find Alice and make sure she didn't claw off Boris' face while I was gone. Don't think you need to check in with Joey, 'cause you're on time, so you can probably just go hide out in your office. See ya then?"

"I guess," you agreed, receiving the usual stupid grin from Bendy in turn. It still managed to give you butterflies.

Those damn confusing butterflies.

Your resolve melted slightly and took your mask of seriousness with it. You squeezed your eyes shut tight. Could you really keep such information from Bendy, no matter how much it haunted you? It may take some of the weight off of your shoulders but what would happen after that?

Even then, it wasn't right to withhold such crucial facts from him.

"Bendy, I... I have something to tell you," you began uncertainly and turned to face him.

But when you opened your eyes, the ink demon had already vanished.

Perhaps this was why you were in such a foul mood for the time being. Up until the interlude before your lunch break, you frustratedly stabbed the paper before you with your pen, so viciously that it left gaping holes in the parchment. You knew that this would make your animations no good but you couldn't help it. You just wanted Bendy to keep you company. Most of all, you wanted to share the maddening theory you had concerning the true fate of your neighbors. It couldn't possibly be a coincidence, it just couldn't. The unlikely duo must have arrived at the studio. The question was, what happened to them after they arrived?

Without your insight on the true nature of Joey Drew, you had nothing but Bendy and even that was negligible due to him being in the dark. You could always ask someone at the studio about what happened to the two, or even ask Joey Drew himself, but for some reason, you shied away from the thought. If something did happen, then they would want to keep the incident hushed, far from informing some teenage intern. There goes that option. As for Bendy, the spark of courage you felt had faded, leaving a trembling mess in its wake. Put that on top of how you always felt watered down whenever he was around and his unforeseen reaction and you didn't get satisfying results.

So what could you do?

As if on cue, you heard Wally Frank's voice drift down to your little nook as he walked past, going on an early lunch break.

 _Keys!_ A shock went down your spine and made you jerk up from the desk you were slumped. _Keys, keys, keys!_

Wally was notorious for losing his keys. Surely he wouldn't notice if they fell into someone else's hands?

Mind made up, you clenched your hands and stood up.

You would sniff out the studio's secrets, one at a time.

Starting with whatever Joey did all those nights he stayed at the workshop.

For some reason you couldn't explain, you knew that there was more to it than met the eye. If your theory was correct, then that was the reason why Bendy was, well, the way he was. In his hatred for his creator, that is. It was undeniably linked to whatever happened to your neighbors, you knew it, you could feel it. The only doubt you had while sneaking out of the hall you worked in to take advantage of Wally's absence was that you once again were unsure of how Bendy would feel. This doubt was soon crushed, however. The devil did the exact same thing when he had gone through your things and began hoarding your photos. It didn't bother you as much as you thought it would have. In fact, it was nice to share the woes of your childhood with someone, even if that someone was a demon who you had been both completely infuriated and infatuated with at the moment. Hopefully, this would have the same effect on him, because asking him about whatever happened usually received a guarded turnoff as a reply. It was frustrating, to say the least.

You would think that taking off your shirt for someone would signify some kind of trust, if nothing else.

Then the memory made you blush uncontrollably as you made your way down to music department where Wally Franks usually lurked. Only a few employees passed by you on your way. When they saw you coming, they either stared avidly, scurried to the far end of the hallway like you had the plague, or began whispering furiously to each other when there was more than one. You were hardly aware of this and only managed to pick up that something was mildly wrong, though you were unaware that you were the problem. You just put this down to the news of two people going missing and jarring everyone’s nerves. Not for a moment did you think that it was because of a rumor Shawn Flynn had started that had consumed the studio like wildfire. In all honesty, the news of the disappearances was only slightly picked at until the gossip was fiercely inveighed against by Sammy Lawrence. Having the musician breathing down your neck while you were talking was quite unappealing, so the staff reverted back to the rumor that had yet to reach Joey and Sammy’s ears (they didn't expect that the truth had already arrived on their doorstep Tuesday night).

While you were shuffling around to find a supply closet that Wally was a regular to, you kept your eyes open for Bendy or Alice. Boris was openly walking around, looking fretful and jumpier than usual, especially when you waved to him and he nearly leaped out of his fur while casting you a terrified glance. That was… unusual. Unable to address this problem properly due to being preoccupied, you simply gave him a confused but reassuring smile and went down a nearby hall to throw open a closet door. Nothing. Another door. Absolutely nothing. More doors. More nothing.

With a growling sigh, you clapped a hand to your forehead and continued your search, extending it to other nearby departments. You came up empty handed and dragged back to the music department. Where on earth could you hide a bigass ring of keys? Your search led you closer and closer to Sammy’s office, much to your dismay. If you got lucky then hopefully he wouldn't interrupt your search but your luck wasn't exactly the best.

To answer your prayer, Sammy Lawrence himself came up in a hallway behind you as you were tearing apart a rack of cleaning supplies. He wasn’t too angry over the noise. Mostly, he was just curious. How had such an ordinary little being been able to capture the Lord’s affection? Unlike Joey, who was furious that you were stealing away his creation and wanted to eliminate the threat as soon as possible, Sammy was more so interested in persuading you to join them at night. If the Lord wanted a lamb, then he could present one to Him. You could be a valuable ally. At the moment, however, you were quite useless, punctuating the composer’s muses with the sound of glass shattering and a squeal. You had tried and failed to reach the top shelf and were now sprawled over the floor in a daze, finally meeting Sammy’s frosty stare with another shriek.

“S-Sammy!” Came your shocked gasp as you scrambled off of the floor. “What are you--”

“Doing?” Finished the musician in that icy voice of his. “I think you should answer your own question.”

An embarrassed blush stained your cheeks. “I-I… I was just…” Your throat constricted as you looked up at Joey’s right-hand man with no Bendy nearby to scare him off and steer you away from the encounter.

“Going back to your office?”

“I… Yeah. I-I was…”

There was no way you would be able to get off that easily. Was there? Trying to hold his unblinking gaze, you saw the usual empty, cold reserve but there was a glimmer behind the icy film that you had never seen before. It was wariness.

The man didn’t know what to make of you.

This was disconcerting, to say the least. Since when did you grow two heads? Before you could croak a goodbye, Lawrence narrowed his searching eyes, tore them away from you, then slunk down the shadowy hall he came from, wondering what he should do about the tensions brewing underneath the surface of the studio.

You, on the other hand, couldn't shake off the feeling of Sammy Lawrence’s gawking and the terror that made your legs tremble even when you had exited the vicinity. For all of your fear, that spark of feisty bravery had returned to you, making you refuse to follow the suggestion bordering on order from the musician. This only strengthened your determination to uncover all that you could. Sammy obviously had a few loose screws and you wanted to know why. It all led back to the task at hand. Find the keys, gain entrance to wherever you needed to go in the studio, whenever. The heat was on now that you were under Sammy’s radar. You had to find the keys, quick, before another tense meeting with him or an unwanted intrusion.

The studio was searched with fervent need during the lunch break. Time was of the essence and yet it was slowly seeping out between your fingers. You were almost frustrated to tears. Right when you were about to admit defeat, you slumped against an abandoned desk and put your head in your hands. It wasn't fair! All you wanted was the truth, was that really asking for too much? Just a ring of keys. That was all you needed! A stupid, simple, ring of keys. Your optics burned and you had to fight back the tears that threatened to spill. Looking up and blinking rapidly, you studied your feet and sighed. What a dumb setback. Then something caught your eyes.

There, at the foot of the desk you were leaning on, were the keys you had so desperately sought out. Exasperation and relief mingled to give a giddying feeling, not unlike all those times you had gotten high. Of course, Wally wouldn't have put his keys in a safe place. It's why he lost them so often in the first place. Still, you had the keys! Hands trembling, you bent over, scooped them into your grip, then dangled them in front of your face to examine them in disbelief. It was your time. The moment where everything would change. You would turn the tables. The entirety of the studio was now in your grasp.

This sense of grandeur was short-lived, sadly. Your growing excitement was shattered by a soft, shy voice at the edge of the room saying, “(Y/N)? What are you doing?”

You dropped the keys and nearly fell off of the desk. “Allison! Um, what are you doing?”

“Looking for Sammy,” Allison Pendle explained and shuffled her feet. “Have you seen him? We were supposed to be doing the audio for the latest episode.”

“Uh, no, I haven't,” you lied uncertainly and averted your gaze.

“Oh.” Her disappointment was obvious but temporary as she forgot it in light of your strange activities. “So what were you doing?”

Still not looking at the voice actress, you plucked the keys off of the ground, stuffed them in your back pocket, then walked across the room to head down the hall that Allison was standing by. “Nothing.”

Widening her eyes at this dismissal, she hurried after you and gasped, “Wait!”

“What?” You said, more confused than annoyed as you paused and swung around to face her.

“I-I was looking for you, too,” she admitted and wrung her wrists. “I, uh, wanted to ask you something…”

You cocked your head. “And?”

“And, um, I just wanted to… Ask about…” she trailed off, dropping her watery eyes back to her feet. After a few seconds, when you were getting tired of waiting and made a move to look away, Allison burst out, “It's Alice! I keep trying to talk to her but she hates me! How am I supposed to learn about her character and voice her when she despises me?! I want to talk to her, I was so excited to be her friend but she's nothing like herself in the show. She's so cold and angry and she hates me! And I feel so bad for taking someone else's job, I didn't know that that was what had to have happened for me to start working. I just always dreamed of being a voice actress and now…” Sad, glittering optics fixated on your concerned features. “This isn't at all what I wanted. Maybe I should quit…”

“Hey, don't do that!” You said breathlessly at the sudden confession and stretched your hands out to her. “I… I'm sure Alice doesn't hate you. She was just really… close… with Susie before she left. It's hard to deal with but I'm sure she doesn't hate you. Quitting won't help anything, I can tell you that much. Believe me, I know.” A reassuring smile was offered to Allison tentatively. The troubled actress returned it nervously, then took your hands as you continued, “Susie was probably going to get fired anyway. It wasn't your fault and I'm sure Alice will realize that. I bet you're a great voice actress. You shouldn't let this stop you. She does not hate you. I don't think Alice is capable of hating anyone, actually.”

She lit up briefly at your compliment. “Thank you. I wouldn’t have thought so either, but you should see the way she is with me…”

The two of you went back and forth like this for some time, with Allison insisting that maybe she would be better off at a different job and you denying her protests. Strangely enough, you were a bit touched that the girl had come to you with her worries, even though you could infer that she was a couple years older than you and had a tighter grasp on the world. Maybe she thought you were friends. That was a nice thought.

When you had successfully quieted her anxieties, Allison sniffed and mewled, “Thanks. I still think Alice hates me, but if you say so… I dunno. I'll just never be as close to her like you are with Bendy.”

The warm feeling you had immediately plummeted into a bucket of ice at this comment. “What.”

Her eyebrows shot up at this as she rubbed her watery optics. “You and Bendy. You are something, right?”

“Um, no,” you sputtered and took a pace away from the voice actress. How the hell did she come up with that theory (aside from the fact that it was true)? “We are not.”

Confusion etched her face. “Oh. But… But I saw you at the meeting, then when Thomas came over, and Shawn said--”

“What did Shawn say?” A familiar sneer came from behind you at the mention of the employee.

“Bendy!” You gasped and whirled around, painfully aware of Allison examining your interactions behind you after your false denial of being with the ink demon. “What are you doing here?”

His eyes softened when they rested on you, much to your dismay and Allison’s suspicion. “I was looking for you.” Then, noticing the voice actress a few steps behind you, the cartoon replaced the grimace on his face and barked, “What about Shawn?”

Looking back and forth between the two of you towering over her and trembling, she took in a steadying breath and relayed all the things her fellow worker had said about you and him in a scared tone.

She finished a few minutes later.

There was a stunned silence.

“SHAWN!” Bendy suddenly bellowed, dashed down the hall, and out of sight.

Instead of having a reaction similar to the ink demon (though you were very tempted to), you sighed and strode after him reluctantly, throwing one last remark to Allison over your shoulder.

“You shouldn't believe everything you hear. I have to take care of this, now.”

The last glimpse of her face you caught was disconcerted and almost amused. Well, fuck. You weren't sure she believed your protests over what information she had dug up concerning you and Bendy, to your chagrin, though you couldn't think about that just now. That was another problem for another day. The problem currently facing you was that Bendy now had a death penalty to carry out and it would not be pretty if you failed to find him on time.

Why, _why_ couldn't have Shawn kept his mouth shut? Was it really that hard? Did Thomas really have to fan the flames when he wasn't even sure of what he saw (not mentioning that his assumption was correct)?

Pieces of the puzzle began falling into place. That was why you were getting so many dirty looks. That was why you were being avoided like the plague. That was why, that was why, that was why. All of the snide remarks and stares you had ignored earlier swam hazily to the focus of your mind, then magnified in intensity. Panic made you pick up your pace as you shot down hallways, around corners, and past the occasional worker. Just seeing them out of the corner of your eye made your stomach flip and blood boil. Paranoia then set in. Were they all looking at you? What did they know? Were the walls closing in? Original task forgotten, you turned abruptly, then accidentally slammed your side into a rickety wall. Your breath escaped you with a loud and painful gasp.

Shuddering, you slid down the wall slowly, splayed your knocking knees, then collapsed. The hall was abandoned and dark, which was only a small comfort to you. No one had seen your little meltdown but it had happened, nonetheless. The overwhelming guilt that you thought you had overcome returned with more intensity than ever, along with the usual panic. Your loneliness had been curbed but it came with a price; that price being an object of ridicule for all those around you. There was no triumph in your possession of Wally's keys, now. Only shame and embarrassment remained as you pulled the metal ring out of your back pocket and held it with violently trembling hands, the cool surface only doing so much to calm you down. It seemed like you were destined to chase everyone who had ever known you away. First your parents, then your friends, now your co-workers.

These keys could be what chased away the last person who had ever been happy to share your company. Could you risk that? It was for a greater good, of course, but Bendy didn't always see things the way you did. Even if he had done practically the same thing, the ink demon was a complete hypocrite and lacked remorse for most of his actions. He also didn't have very good foresight. You just wanted answers. You just wanted him to be happy.

Happiness was not the first thing on Bendy's mind as his screeches suddenly echoed down the hall you were slumped in. He had found Shawn, who caught wind of the devil hunting him down and tried to stow away in the abandoned parts of the workshop. Needless to say, it did not work. The hollers were booming and frequent, suggesting that the showdown wasn't too far off from you.

Stifling the last of your blazing panic and sickly guilt, you rose up to shaky legs and dragged yourself to where Bendy had trapped Shawn. Your journey led you to a larger hallway, which was already filling up with people clamoring over the scene, which was great and such, but it blocked your line of sight. You could only catch the faintest glimpse of long, hooked horns before they disappeared underneath the crowd again. By now, the yelling was almost unbearable. Plugging your ears and stiffening your resolve, you dove into the sea of workers and fought your way to the front of the mob.

Somehow, you made it with all of your limbs attached. Now you really had an eyeful of the spectacle. Shawn Flynn, backed into a corner underneath a particularly large ink pipe, staring up at the snarling Bendy looming over him. It was hard to keep from flinching at the sight of the cartoon's expression even if it wasn't directed at you. Fangs bared, shoulders squared and raised, arms slightly outstretched, ink beginning to drip over one of his eyes... It was truly was terrifying.

You were paralyzed as you watched him howl at Shawn a few more times and closed in while the crowd jeered at the ink demon.

"Do you think this is funny?!" Bendy shrieked at the toy maker, tail lashing.

"N-No, I--" he started in an absolutely horrified squeak but was cut off by the ink demon.

_"Do you think this is fucking funny?!"_

The yowls from beside you grew louder as Bendy took another step forward and forced Shawn to slide down the wall. Your breath caught in your throat. Then, whooping with triumph and sick amusement, the cartoon devil who you were so infatuated with brandished a wrench in his hand that you had not noticed before and hurled it at the pipe over Shawn's cowering form. It made its mark in the perfect sweet spot. The pipe, already groaning from pressure, burst at the jarring touch, and a torrent of ink came rushing out right over the toy maker. He let out a shrill scream before the ink drenched him and drowned out his hollers. The crowd around you took up his wailing once the ink rushed toward them, Bendy cackling as he stood in the middle of the floods. People began jostling each other as they made a beeline for the exit, then jostling became shoving, and shoving led to a full-blown stampede. You were overcome by this sudden flight with a cry and disappeared into the flood of fleeing employees. Trying to not get run over, you moved with them but cast one final alarmed glance back over to Bendy before you went.

While screeching after the workers, he caught your gaze and immediately faltered. A brief pang of guilt flashed over his face but before you had time to register it, you were swept back under the tide and ushered away from his sad, sad stare.

The retreat forced you all the way back to your office, where you made sure you were still in possession of Wally's keys, then pored over exactly what you had seen. So Bendy had completely flew off his rocker. That was obvious. Now the studio was ten times more terrified of him than before and even you were feeling some streaks of fear that hadn't been there in weeks. The fact that it was there again scared you more than Bendy himself.

Speak of the devil (quite literally), the ink demon came dragging into your office with a bad-tempered growl.

"H-Hi," you greeted and flipped around in your chair, nearly making it fall over.

He stopped snarling, blinked at you, then said softly, "Hi. Now move."

Instead of scooting over, you jumped up from the seat, offered it to him, then pulled yourself onto your desk and began swinging your legs. "You really scared the living daylights out of me, you know that?"

The guilty expression from earlier returned. "I know. He's okay, though." He chanced a half smile. "Just stained."

You gave a deadpan glare to the ink demon below you and refrained from offering a stinging retort. "Okay, but I'm more concerned about you doing that in the first place. I mean, I was mad at him too but that was pretty brutal."

"I know," the ink demon huffed and pulled himself closer to the desk to rest his chin on one of your thighs and purr, "Sorry."

Despite his fluttery purrs, he really was apologetic about his less than stellar behavior. You sighed gustily and absently tugged at one of his horns. "Next time, try to not to give me anxiety by drowning my co-workers."

"I won't. But ya have to admit, that's really annoying. What Shawn said, I mean."

"I know."

"I want to kill him."

"I know. Hey, how was Alice?"

This subject change only made Bendy huffier. "Horrible. For whatever reason, she hates me now and talking to her was like trying to talk to a brick wall."

"Sounds like someone I know," you teased and grasped both of his horns.

Brushing you off and rolling his eyes, the ink demon continued, "So anyway, she wants nothing to do with me now. Not like I'm complaining but I just don't want her to go crazy and kill someone."

"No, that's your job."

"Is not."

"Shawn Flynn."

"I'd have a good enough reason to kill him," he retorted and leaned up to you. "I should have done it when I had the chance."

"No killing," you whispered and stared into his glimmering black optics, the traces of fear you had before vanished.

"No promises," he murmured back, stretched up further, then caught your mouth with his own.

You spent the rest of the day giggling, whispering stupid little pretty things in each other's ears, and overall got nothing done. That didn't matter, though. This only reinforced your belief that you had a reason for possessing the keys that weighed down your back pocket. You were doing something right. Answers would be revealed, both of the true meaning behind those disappearances you briefly pushed to the back of your mind and what you really interested in now: Bendy. Tonight would be the night. You could unlock anything you wanted in the studio. Everything was in the palm of your hand, or rather, in your pocket.

Before gathering your things to show Joey your work and leave, Bendy purred, pulled against his chest, then said, "See ya."

"See you, too," you accepted the brief embrace and let go, anticipation frying your nerves.

_See you sooner than you think._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AND THE DUMBASS OF THE YEAR AWARD GOES TO...
> 
> College douche.
> 
> Not Reader-chan.
> 
> Blame college douche for going to the studio in the first place.
> 
> Blame ME for writing this!
> 
> God, next chapter is gonna be a clusterfuck...
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	21. Gospel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is gospel for the fallen ones, locked away in permanent slumber, assembling their philosophies from pieces of broken memories.
> 
> Oh, this is the beat of my heart, this is the beat of my heart...
> 
> Their gnashing teeth and criminal tongues conspire against the odds, but they haven’t seen the best of us yet...
> 
> If you love me, let me go!
> 
> ‘Cause these words are knives and often leave scars!
> 
> The fear of falling apart...
> 
> And truth be told, I never was yours.
> 
> The fear, the fear of falling apart...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK, and before we dive into the shitstorm I have for today, I got some news.
> 
> So, I got my report card today and um...
> 
> It's not great.
> 
> I dunno if I'll get my stuff taken away but if I do, then I'll tell the people on my Twitter and if I go silent on here for a while then that's probably why.
> 
> I really, really hope I don't get anything taken but I dunno. I'm super worried about going home later today to show off my less than fabulous grades...
> 
> ANYWAY, I had to update the tags for this chapter, so be warned. It's basically a massive fuckup while Norman goes insane in the background, spelling mistakes included, haha...
> 
> I really wish I had more time to edit. I've been going back and poring through everything but I've only gotten up to Chapter 7. Sorry.
> 
> Also, before I go, thanks for 666 kudos! That's great! The magic number! WOO!
> 
> So, let's hope I don't get my phone taken or anything else I use to write, be forewarned and seriously: Thank you guys for everything.
> 
> I'm always so sad and this is one of the few things that make happy.
> 
> Enjoy.

Employees trickled out of Joey Drew Studios as night fell upon the city in the form of a dark, humid blanket. A cool breeze occasionally stirred the stifling air, though it did nothing to ease the stickiness of your skin as you made your way to your car. After saying goodbye to Bendy, you had made your way to your boss' office, avoiding other workers on your way there. The whispers you had been enlightened to were unbearable and you really did not want to be subject to more gossip. Joey wouldn't believe such blasphemy, you had told yourself while walking down the hall and returning the glare that a few workers who had been passing by gave you. Once you had arrived, you greeted your boss with much more wariness than usual, not only because of your suspicions on the disappearances of your neighbors, but because you weren't entirely convinced that Joey had been uninformed of Shawn's rumor.

It turned out that you had nothing to worry about. While there was something off about him (more than usual), the animator still greeted you with cool politeness and accepted your work. He had even made a move to pull out his wallet and pay you but he paused in the middle of reaching into his pocket and withdrew his empty hand, muttering something about Grant Cohen and finances. This didn't bother you as much as you would have previously thought. Not only were you excited about your plans that night, you also didn't have the burning desire for wealth anymore. It had just been a coping mechanism to fill the empty void inside of you with meaningless dollar signs. Now that you actually had at least one relationship with some meaning behind it, the days when you fawned over forty dollars were long gone.

You didn't miss them.

Currently, what you did miss was Bendy. Excitement and the knowledge you would see him very soon watered down your longing, however. You stood in front of the mirror in your bathroom, examining the inconspicuous outfit you had put together to blend in with the night. Black hoodie, black jeans, black, black, black. Black everywhere. It reminded you of Bendy and his refusal to wear anything tinted. Sometimes you regretted your decision to get him a mostly shaded wardrobe, even if you knew he preferred it. He dressed like an emo twelve-year-old. The thought made you smile at your reflection, who automatically smiled back. It came off as slightly nervous, which wasn't the most reassuring thing, though it could always be your warped perception. For all of your optimistic hype, you were still nursing a few seeds of dread in the pit of your stomach. Believing this escapade would be a cakewalk was foolish. There were so, so many things that could go wrong. So many, the thought of running through different mental scenarios made you sick. Even if your midnight hunt went smoothly, you would have to deal with the repercussions of your actions, namely, how Bendy would respond.

What bothered you the most was how you couldn't at all predict his reaction. You would have liked to say you knew the ink demon better than anyone and while this may be true, there was plenty left over you didn't know about him. His unpredictable behavior was something you grew to both love and hate. Though at the moment, you just hated it. While it did add something to your relationship, it also made things like this all the more frustrating. You obviously had to tell him everything at some point, so you resolved to give him the full picture once you were done sniffing down all the information you could at the studio. At least, all concerning the disappearances. You could deal with whatever made Bendy hate the studio so much afterward, despite your hunch they were inextricably linked. If they were connected, then how would Bendy feel about that? You could see a million different expression pass over his pale face in your mind. Anger, disappointment, relief, confusion, sadness, defeat, triumph, hope, despair, love, hatred, and that was just the beginning of it.

It all came to exactly what went down at Joey Drew Studios at night and you were determined to find out.

No matter how much you silently doubted yourself.

Releasing the tight grip you didn't realize you had on your cool, bathroom counter, you flashed one last fleeting smile at your reflection, then turned off the lights. The shadows immediately consumed your shrouded self and you could barely make out your outline in the dim light. Your little attempts at camouflage would obviously go a long way in the inky darkness of the workshop. You were taking a leaf out of Bendy's book with the idea of melting into the gloom like you had seen him do so many times. Creatures of ink had a natural knack for blending in with the shadows, which you were grudgingly jealous of, but just as Bendy insisted he didn't want to be a parasitic human, you were perfectly fine with keeping your title as such. You mused he wasn't being entirely truthful with that statement as you left the dark bathroom and stepped into your former bedroom to consult the Bendy plush on your dresser. Once you got around to moving your things and cleaning the ink-stained bedsheets in Bendy’s room (how he got ink everywhere, you did not know, and you didn't particularly want to either), then you would transfer the doll into your shared room, but it was perfectly happy watching over your abandoned space for now.

With sleeve covered hands, you plucked the eternally grinning plush from your dresser and sighed, sliding down the wall to crumple in a heap on the floor with the toy in your lap.

“I'm doing this for you, you know that,” you told the stuffed Bendy, squeezing one of the small horns between a finger and a thumb in an attempt to compensate for the absence of the real one. “Well, for your daddy, I mean.”

It didn't answer.

You sighed. “I promise I'll tell you everything. Eventually. At some point. Hopefully tonight, if you don't kill me first. I really hope you don't. I just want you to be happy and whatever made you the way you are…” You broke off, feeling choked.

The toy continued giving you its signature grin and if you observed it from a certain perspective, it was almost reassuring. You swallowed heavily, forced down a tremor, then weakly beamed back at the plush.

Replacing the toy sentinel on your wardrobe, you admitted, “Love you,” then stood to cautiously back out of your room.

If only you could confess to the real version.

One shaky step at a time, you made your way down your creaky staircase, every footfall drawing you closer to Joey Drew Studios. There were so many things you wanted to do at the studio. You could dig through the files to learn more about the history of the workshop; you could search for clues that hinted at your neighbors’ long gone presence; you could seek out Bendy; you could do anything. The choices were endless and it all started with the keys. They currently rested on your dining room table, innocently waiting for your call into action. Pale starlight spilled in from the window and onto the metal ring. You narrowed your eyes against the reflection and trained your gaze on the keys, crouching down to slip on your shoes (which were, of course, black, reminding you of the ones Bendy wore). It was almost like if you looked away for a single moment, the keys would vanish into thin air, which wouldn't surprise you. Your neighbors did the same thing, after all.

Luckily, they were still in place by the time you finished your last few preparations. A joyful metallic jingle rang out as you scooped them into your hand, and you stuffed them into your sweatshirt pocket to stifle the noise. It reminded you of Bendy filling his hoodie with coins.

God, was everything determined to bring him to mind? It seemed inescapable. You didn't know if this was a good or bad thing but for now, it managed to fuel your determination, which was all you really needed. That, and a plan. Since you didn't exactly have all the time in the world and it was nearly midnight already, you grabbed your own keychain, hurried over to the door, and stepped out into the stagnant night air. You wished you hadn't worn a sweatshirt but didn't feel like rushing back inside to change. Besides, the near total cover needed to give you the best possible camouflage. No neon green jumpers for you today.

Street lamps from overhead cast a dingy yellow glow across the sidewalk you tread across. Very few and very faint stars glittered across the deep indigo heavens, which you were able to blend in with perfectly thanks to your clever choice of clothing. As you slowly padded away from your home, you could see your elderly neighbor's house in the corner of your eye. The now widowed husband sat on the porch, alone, head in his hands. You felt a slight twinge of sympathy and moved along. No matter how bothersome they were--what with them tearing you down to leave you with nothing but your insecurities or being too nosy for their own good--no one deserved to be alone. You obviously had far too much experience with the feeling, though you never had anything taken away from you so viciously. Your past loneliness was natural, not forced. It was even more painful to imagine being with someone for so long then having them ripped from your fingertips during your twilight days.

In fact, it was so painful it took your breath away.

Keeping yourself from applying this to your own life and fighting back tears at the mere ghost of the thought, you picked up the pace and prowled swiftly under the cover of the night. The neighborhood fell away along with the streetlights, leaving you in the welcoming, humid darkness you so easily fell into. You were but a brief flicker across the street amongst other, much more imposing gloomy figures, with the occasional tinkling of keys being your single dead giveaway. The smell of exhaust burned your nostrils as it wafted off of the street at your side. Only a few cars passed by, much to your relief, but a pang of panic hit you when the occasional headlight shone over the horizon. If someone stopped you, then all was lost. This seemed far too likely with your shady appearance and timing. Not many teenage girls stalked the city at midnight while donning their darkest attire.

Despite your worries, no one dared to interrupt your fierce, purposeful gait. Some people threw a few odd looks your way but that was where it ended. You weren't entirely reassured, however. These looks only reminded you of the ones employees cast at you during your shift at the studio, especially Allison, who seemed utterly devoted to her belief in whatever was happening between you and Bendy. What set her apart from the rest of the studio was that she didn't seem disgusted by the rumor at all. Maybe she could be your biggest advocate. Then again, having no one know anything in the first place would be much better. You didn't need friends. You had Bendy.

In a sense.

Of course, nothing was certain with the cartoon demon, and you only knew half of the real him, but it obviously didn't keep you from diving into the deep end of that mysterious pool of ink.

Speaking of deep ends, the inside of your sweatshirt was a complete sauna. The only thing keeping you moving along was Joey Drew Studios poking out over the horizon, beckoning you, taunting you. It laughed at your dragging steps and jangling keys, asking destiny if this was all it had to offer. You grimaced in response and picked up the pace. Sweat dripped down your back, not only from the heat, but also nervousness. Some cool air would do you good, as well as answers, both of which lounged mockingly at the studio slowly drawing closer to you. Or rather, it was drawing you closer to it. You had always had a mild fascination with the workshop's murky history but never with such a burning intensity. It consumed you wholely, like a moth to a flame or a lonely eighteen-year-old volunteer to a cheeky cartoon devil. The similarity between the two was sickeningly surprising.

Your toxic hunger for information on so many things only grew as you rushed toward Joey Drew Studios, feet now slapping on the pavement below. These noises went off like gunshots in the night and whisked away your element of surprise, but you hardly cared. All that mattered was the entrance of the studio swimming into focus, the mixture of excitement and anxiety you felt, the keys jangling in your pocket--

Then, stifling a shriek, you barreled into the studio's front door and slid down the frame, unsure of whether you should weep with relief or disintegrate from the apprehension. You didn't give yourself time to dwell on the decision.

Just like the college boy had done a few days ago, you took in a sharp breath, rested one hand on the doorknob, then began a new, dark chapter in your winding tale.

A dramatic creak came from the entrance as you nudged it open, making you inwardly flinch. So the door was already unlocked. It must mean you were not alone in the studio. Though you were unaware of it, you were far from alone. Even in the very hall you stood in, you were not alone.

The Projectionist watched you cautiously creep down the hallway and into the welcoming room. His paranoia had billowed in the past week, forcing him further into the shadows that would eventually claim his soul. For now, however, he was perfectly fine observing from the sidelines and keeping a close catalog on the daily activities of the studio. Norman Polk had even confirmed that the once disgusting and unthinkable idea that you were in some kind of a sick relationship with the bane of Joey Drew Studios was horrifyingly true, thanks to a single silent trip down your hallway to find you practically glued to Bendy while he pinned you against your desk. Even though he immediately fled just as swiftly as he had arrived, the sound of the ink demon purring had imprinted itself in his memories and drive him up the wall. The worst part was that you had been asking for it.

So there the Projectionist was, his reality shattered and stomped on by you and Bendy. If that was the truth, then what was a lie? Could he really trust anyone, after the many eccentricities of Joey and Sammy and now you? There was only one way to know for sure, to stay out of sight, to keep the eyes that followed him everywhere at bay, to crush that hysterical paranoia that everything was a lie and that everyone was watching and that he could trust no one trust no one trust no one trust no one and oh god were the walls and eyes closing in they're everywhere he couldn't breathe and he was letting you slip right past him just like his sanity slowly seeping out between his fingers _this is all Joey's fault all his fault all his fault his fault everything before me is falling apart my job my life my mind my faith just watch just watch just watch just watch they'll never know even if I'm right behind them..._

Norman Polk shuddered and collapsed in the gloomy pools, letting a torrent of paranoia and suspicion and crash over him until there was nothing left of him but an obsessive need to regain control of the downward spiral that the studio and everyone in it was taking.

Long gone from the entry room, you didn't hear the dull thud that his body made as he convulsed violently on the floor but you did hear a distant murmur that suggested another's presence. You avoided these sounds for the time being since you had actually formed the shell of a plan, more like a to-do list than anything. First things first: enlightenment. Time to put those keys of yours to good use by breaking into everyone's office and gleaning whatever information you could from the workspaces. And you knew just the perfect place to begin your search.

Pulling the keychain out of your pocket with clammy hands, you flashed a manic grin and headed down to Sammy's office, taking special care to stay clear of any voices by sticking to the shade that you were so well suited to. Candlelight flickered across the rickety walls, occasionally casting a humanoid shadow in the distance. You veered away from these shapes, resolving to only approach if one of the shadows had a set of long, hooked horns and a thin tail sticking out of it. None of them did. The trek was staggered and much longer than it needed to be due to the winding route you made through the studio. It wasn't entirely wasted, thankfully. You came across plenty of locked doors that were just begging you to open them. Despite your happy compliance to do so, there was a whole lot of nothing behind them. Sammy’s office was a complete bust, too. You thought for sure that if there was any worker willing to do unspeakable things to a couple of ignorant people that were dropped on the studio's doorstep, then it would be him, but his office was full of nothing but discarded music compositions and spilled ink bottles. There was always Joey’s office but something held you back from immediately seeking it out, even if it was your best bet for information. You didn't acknowledge why. You simply shrugged off the inevitable, brushed away some dust on your jeans, then left Sammy’s desolate workspace, scoping the key ring up into your palm and exiting the vicinity before the musician himself caught you. In the distance, the voices had intensified to an irksome buzz, nursing both your anxiety and annoyance.

Doors creaked open, papers flew, and keys jangled, but there was still nothing to show for all of your efforts. Was it really all that surprising? If there were any files to pique your interest, then they would be waiting for you in Joey Drew’s office, the man who was pulling the strings. Eventually, even you couldn't deny the allure of knowledge and accepted that you would only find a whole lot of nothing at the rate you were gong. With a sigh, you straightened up from the desk you were currently searching and abandoned the room to seek out Joey’s office.

This would be no different than when you looked for him once your shift was over. You were just tearing apart his things and snooping around based on some silly hunch you had, no big deal. Right?

Your halfhearted reassuring notions did nothing to assuage your anxiety. The feeling of being watched was back (along with the Projectionist, who had gotten over his panic from earlier and was struggling to make you out against the darkness that the two of you shared). Paranoia started creeping along the edges of your vision but you shoved it away, telling yourself that you had nothing to worry about and you were completely in the right with your decision. You were fine. Fine, fine, fine. It didn't matter that your encounters with those unknown figures were getting closer and closer, that you were beginning to wonder what you would do if your baseless guess were incorrect, that you were utterly terrified of his Bendy would react.

A dash of confidence was all you needed and you were slowly choking down those seeds of dread while Norman Polk slunk ahead of you, trying to guess your destination. The office that you were seeking out was right around the corner and it instantly became apparent that that was your end goal. The question was, should he allow you to reach it? That was just as easily answered. Norman Polk, the neutral, the bystander, usurp his place at the sideline and get involved in something like this? No, thank you. For all the hatred and disgust he felt for you, there was no way on God’s green earth that he would take some action. It was pointless. He was unaligned, perfectly content to suspiciously stalk the comings and goings of those around him without doing anything about it. These dark spaces would be his home, now. You may have been infringing upon his space but you would eventually leave and take that demon abomination with you. That was all he could hope for.

The Projectionist pressed himself against the wall and watched as you passed by on shaky legs, trying to drown out the voices in the background. If you focused hard enough, then you would have been able to hear that little chant that had been haunting your dreams for the longest time, but there were other matters at hand. Like how you could see someone coming around down the hall. Or the first eerie howl that began reverberating throughout the already pain-soaked workshop. The cry made you jump in your skin as if you were electrocuted and blindly scramble for the door to Joey’s office, not mentioning the shadows drawing closer in the meantime. You tugged on the knob.

Locked.

Typical.

Trembling uncontrollably, you stuffed your hand into your pocket, fished around for the massive ring of keys weighing it down, then withdrew them with a loud clang. By now, you could make out a familiar spitting noise coming from the shadows over the unidentifiable howls, though the sound didn't register in your mind. All that mattered to you was finding shelter, quick. Internally cursing yourself, you chided your shaking hands and searched desperately for the key to your boss’ office, nearly dropping the metal ring numerous times.

In the corner, Norman refrained from pointing out the correct key and instead watched you struggle with mild, detached interest.

The perfect fit presented itself with almost no time to spare and you darted into the out of sight at the same moment Bendy came barreling down the hallway, snarling as he tried shaking off the workers who were pursuing him. The Projectionist watched them pass with a sneer from the shadows, then looked back at the spot where you had disappeared. On the other side of the door, you had tripped over yourself in your hasty arrival and now laid winded on the dusty floor. You scrambled up into a sitting position and studied your surroundings, teeth chattering at the sound of another mournful wail ringing out.

 _Is that_ Boris _?_ You wondered without anything else to distract you from it.

There was a single character who you knew could make such a sound and that was, of course, the only wolf in the studio, Boris.

With the glaringly obvious source of the howls discovered, you pondered on why he was making those noises in the first place. It sent chills down your spine and seemed to permeate the entire room with misery. Yet another rang out. You shivered but had no feasible explanation for what was going on, which broke your heart. Whatever happened to Boris, you wished him well in the form of a silent and swift prayer, then crawled over to the desk sitting forlornly in the middle of the room. Joey’s desk. If you couldn't find anything here, then there would be nothing anywhere. Unsettled dust particles drifted aimlessly through the air at the disturbance, the musty smell increasing. You stifled a sneeze and continued to creep across the floor until you sat at the foot of the desk. A lamp rested on the table but you refrained from turning it on, not wanting to draw any more attention to the office you infringed upon than necessary. You slunk over to the backside of the desk and strained to make out the shape of cabinets or drawers in the murkiness. The employee files were kept in here for sure, and you were admittedly a shade curious about yours, along with Susie Campbell's. There would definitely be some material on her untimely boot. Maybe you could find something about that Henry figure, too, even though he worked at the studio such a long time ago. You couldn't help but feel he was important in some way, and a hunch was what led you here in the first place, right?

Noticing a large drawer at the bottom of the desk perfect for keeping files, you curled your hand around the grip and tugged. It wouldn't budge. You yanked on it again. It refused to yield. After pulling a few more times, it became apparent that Joey kept his things locked away (in case some nosy break-in were to snoop through it). You huffed and slumped back. This could be the one thing that you wouldn't be able to unlock but then again, you shouldn't count your eggs before they hatched. You hoped for the best, pulled out your handy dandy keys, then began the search for another perfect fit. It was highly unlikely that Wally would possess the ability to unlock Joey’s most private things, but there was no harm in trying. You just really, really hoped that your hunt wouldn't end here.

Luck must have smiled down upon you for once because when you made it to some of the smaller keys, one managed to slide into the lock you had been fumbling with for the past five minutes. You let out the breath you didn't know you were holding, nearly dropped the chain when another particularly pained howl from Boris rang out, then turned the lock with wobbly hands. The drawer popped open invitingly, and you immediately began tearing through its contents. Sadly, night vision was a skill you did not possess, and you had trouble navigating the files, though you still refused to use the light. If someone passing by saw the glow pouring out from underneath the door, then you would be in some pretty deep shit. Well, deeper than you already were.

Finally! You found what you came for. After digging through discarded papers, bills, and trash, you came across the employee files and memos. You squinted your eyes and leaned forward to try and make out a few keywords. Some letters addressed to Grant Cohen, Thomas Connor’s resignation, blueprints of the Ink Machine by Murray Hill, an employee schedule… Then your name on the tag of a folder. Your stomach flipped as you tugged at the file, which was heavier than you expected. When you had finally pulled it free, it splayed open on your lap and a few papers fluttered out. It looked like the folder was full of your animations, judging by the papers that now dappled the floor. You carefully replaced the stray notes and flipped to the front of the file. Here rested your very first few animations. It was startling to see just how much you had improved, especially in the last few weeks thanks to Bendy's help. Trying to not get drowned in the warm, fuzzy feeling that swept over you, you studied the paper that held all of your info on it. What really caught your were the notes at the bottom, written in Joey’s neat, cursive scrawl. You tried reading but… cursive. That never worked. Despite not being able to make out exactly what it said, you could tell that it was originally written at the time you started working here, the black pen being only slightly faded. What really caught your eye was the much fresher red pen scratched over the previous notes. Unlike the black pen, the red was alarming and messy, with many underlines and exclamations. This was concerning, to say the least, but you tried to look at the bright side. Maybe it was him raving on about what a great animator you had become. You wished that you could read cursive in the dark, but nonetheless, you grudgingly set the file aside, remembering that you could always try sneaking the papers home.

Going through the cabinet once again, you pulled out Susie’s file (you couldn't find anything about Henry), a few memos from around the time of the disappearance, and a book called The Illusion of Living by Joey Drew himself. They were all written in cursive, but there were some sketches in the book. You narrowed your eyes at them. They seemed vaguely familiar, but you couldn't place your finger on why without any clarity. You held the ink splattered book up to your face, trying to focus on the many diagrams. The only things that you could with ease were a few ink blotches, with what you read as Sample A, Sample B, and Sample C captioned underneath them.

They were confusing, to say the least. You moved on.

Before you could really dive down the rabbit hole that is Joey Drew Studios, the door suddenly slammed open, accompanied by a loud hiss and thump as someone scrambled in. You squealed and jumped, banging your head on the top of the desk since you had decided to curl up underneath it while poring over the jerky handwriting on Joey’s notes from the day of the disappearances.

The spitting abruptly halted. “Who's there?”

Panic fluttered briefly in your chest and tightened your throat, a sickly feeling burning in your stomach. That was it. It was over. Better to comply now than refuse and face the consequences. You took a deep breath, counted to five, then poked your head out from underneath the desk to face Bendy, who had doubled back down the hall to hide once he shook off the workers chasing after him.

The soft hissing noises he made in the time you had hesitated immediately deepened to a deep, vibrating growl at the sight of you.

“Whaddya doin' here?!” He gave a cross between a shriek and a snarl, tail lashing and gloved hand clenched in a fist, but it really didn't seem as if he was angry.

It was more like watching a caged animal.

You shoved your findings into a shielded corner and tumbled out from underneath the desk to straighten up and fully face the ink demon. Now that you had a better view, you could easily make out the ink completely coating one of his eyes and pooling at his feet.

“I-I was just…” you started shakily, both scared of and concerned about the slowly melting cartoon.

“Just what?!” he snapped and slunk forward, teeth bared at your trembling form and partially obstructed gaze flickering over the scene to pick apart what you had been doing. Then he paused. This was Joey’s office. How did you get into Joey’s office? Narrowing his eyes, he covered up his brief falter and drew himself up to full height. “What are you doing.”

“You don't intimidate me anymore, so you can stop doing that,” you retorted in an attempt to regain your bravado, referring to the growl that had started bubbling up in his throat. “If you really want to know, then I was, um… I was going through Joey’s stuff…”

“How? Why?” He asked and outstretched his palms in exasperation.

“I, uh, sorta kinda stole Wally’s keys,” came your childish mumble in reply. “And I did it ‘cause, um, I just… it was…”

You stuttered at the floor for a few more minutes until Bendy finally ordered, “Spit it out!”

“Fine!” you hollered back, immediately firing up at the forceful demand. “I did it because you know those goddamn disappearances you were so happy about?! Yeah, they happened here! At this studio! I was looking for stuff that could tell me exactly what happened, so you're welcome!”

There was brief silence in which Bendy had time to reattach his jaw after it fell to the floor.

“Why didn'tcha tell me?” he whined, annoyance with you growing. “I coulda done something!”

“Well, sorry you're not the most predictable or approachable person ever, I’ll make sure to give you a log of what I'm doing at every single minute of the day!”

“What does that have to do with anything?!”

“I don't have to tell you everything, and I didn't tell you this because I didn't feel like getting screamed at, but look at what’s happening now! I was _going_ to tell you but I wanted to be _sure_ first so you wouldn't have a hissy fit like _right now_! And I know that's not the only thing happening here! What the hell was happening to Boris and _don't_ tell me that that wasn't him because he's literally the only one who can make noises like that, just like you sound like a cat getting shoved through a garbage disposal! What happened to this studio? _What happened to you_?!” The long-winded speech was ended with you clapping your hands to the sides of Bendy’s pale, dripping face.

Wincing at the sudden sting, he swallowed heavily and replied in another hiss, “I said I would tell ya one day.”

“Really?! Now look me in the eye and tell me that you didn't just say that to get me to hop off your ass!”

Bendy looked at his feet.

You snorted. “Right. Whatever the hell is happening, I hope you tell me, because this isn't right in any way, shape, or form.” Softening your hard expression at his downcast expression, you trailed your hands up to his horns, pulled him closer to you, and pressed your forehead against his. “I just want you to be happy.”

Refraining from letting out a pitiful whine, the ink demon allowed you to grip his horns and hold him in place. The ink slicked your hands but you still refused to move away. A hot feeling began burning his eyes but Bendy hissed softly to keep the tears of frustration and woe from falling, wreathing you in the comforting scent of frost and parchment. For all of his agony, he was perfectly content to slow his false breathing to match yours and stand with his eyes shut, as if it could make the rest of the world disappear along with the pain it brought.

It was a sweet moment, until another howl shattered the illusion.

Bendy stiffened against you at the sound and you felt his jaw clench before he moved away. “You shouldn't be here.”

“But--”

“Look, I promise I'll find out what I can 'bout what happened and I’ll tell you... everything… one day, but for now, you just gotta find a way out.”

Your glittering optics bored into his. “You know what happened, don't you?”

“I've a pretty good idea even though it's not confirmed. Then again, considering I’m always right…”

Usually, you would have laughed but the atmosphere was too oppressing. A grimace stained your expression, and you said, "I'm being serious."

"And I'm serious when I say that ya shouldn't have come here. What the hell were you thinkin'?" Up close, you could confirm that the ink demon wasn't furious so much as terrified. Fear rolled off of him in waves, so heavy that you could practically smell it. If whatever he was going through could reduce the ink demon who was a menace at only three feet tall--not even mentioning the way he acted with Shawn earlier that day--to this dripping mess, then things were worse than you had originally thought.

The disappearances, the Boris' howls, the way Bendy was... It was undeniably connected. The missing link was the source of this misery. Find it, and everything would come together in that little "Aha!" moment. After all, the answer was right in front of you. You just had to figure out how to unlock him. It wouldn't be as simple as stealing keys from a maintenance man, that was for sure, but if you could teach a demon how to be a human being, then you could do anything.

"I wasn't thinking," you finally sighed back, removing your ink-stained hands from his horns to stare down at them. "I... I'm sorry."

Bendy wasn't sure if he wanted to kiss you or throw you out the nonexistent window. "Whatever," he heaved gustily, slumping his skinny shoulders as a few drops of ink rolled down his chin.

You leaned forward. Kiss it was, then.

Bendy immediately took the embrace in stride and ghosted his hands down your sides, chest constricting painfully. As if tonight wasn't bad enough running away from insane cultists trying to get him to take Boris' place in the examination table, he now had to deal with this emotional rollercoaster. The ink demon opened his mouth slightly and teased his forked tongue over yours. If only you had told him about those disappearances before. Sure, he could have blown a fuse or two but what could he do about it? Still, that wasn't the only reason why you had ventured into the studio that night. Though he hated admitting it, this was partially the ink demon's fault. Of course you wouldn't have appreciated being brushed off when you confessed your entire backstory to him, which was just as shitty in a completely different way. Bendy growled and pressed you against the desk without removing his lips from yours. Then he remembered that this was Joey's office.

Then he also remembered that he didn't care what Joey had to say.

Honestly, the devil would have loved to fuck the pain away right then and there, but he was still adamant against your presence in the midst of this agony and swiped his tongue across your teeth one last time before reluctantly pulling away. A faint wave of guilt washed over him once he saw the shuddering, blushing heap that you had become and the ink now staining the side your face but it was quickly replaced by more fear.

"You need to leave," Bendy whispered, taking a few paces backward.

"But--" you started in protest but were cut off by the ink demon lashing his tail.

"No!" His voice rose to a snap and he pressed on before you could call him out for this. "No. Y'can't stay here, believe me. You need to find a way out. I'd go with you myself, but I'm practically a magnet for trouble right now, so you need someone else, but I dunno who..."

"What do you mean 'I need someone'?"

"To take y'outta the studio. This place is a minefield right now and if anyone catches you, I don't think they'll be as fond of you as I am."

Peeling yourself off of the desk, you stalked up to the pacing devil and replied peevishly, "I don't need to be walked out like a nine-year-old."

"Yeah, well, the thing is, I'm not doing this for _you_ so much as my own conscious, so..."

"What do you mean by that?!"

"I just want you to be safe."

"I just want you to be happy!"

"What would make me happy right now is if you leave in one piece!"

"No! I'm staying and I'm finding out whatever the hell happened to you, even if I have to sit on you!"

The ink demon opened his mouth in a stinging retort but before he could offer it, an icy, snarling voice at the door made you both freeze.

"I hate to interrupt, but..." the figure started, sounding perfectly happy to interrupt. "Bendy, you must know by now that Joey wants you and there are people on their way here right now, and (Y/N), well, you really shouldn't be here at all, should you?"

"Alice!" Bendy exclaimed at her imposing appearance, relief flooding his features.

You, on the other hand, weren't too sure that this angel would be your savior. The thought made you shy away against Bendy’s chest, slicking the ink all across your side to match the splatters on your face and hands. It was shocking to see just how much the past week had changed Alice.The usual dreamy mask was swapped for a permanent sneer, and her once soft voice was now glacial and sullen like she had swallowed something bitter. You weren't sure if this was from whatever treatment she received at the studio or because of Susie’s absence. Perhaps a combination. Either way, she certainly did not look happy, and you could practically see the green envy dripping off her in rivulets.

Bendy, who was ignorant of her quite apparent feelings, spoke to her in a rushed, breathless tone. “Alright, alright, I'll go if it makes him shut up, and I know she shouldn't be here…” He threw a pointed look your way, which you returned with an additional pout and eyeroll. The ink demon rolled his own eyes and looked back at Alice, “...but she is anyway, so I need ya to do me a favor.”

She was half tempted to refuse but Joey Drew hadn't completely brainwashed her yet. There were still the memories of Bendy stowing her away from the creator and degrading himself by begging Joey to let him take her place, even when he was never particularly friends with her. Only siblings.

The growing fury inside of her faltered, and the angel started slowly, “What is it?”

“Take her out of the studio. Please. If she goes alone, then someone’ll find her, and I can't go because, ah, y'know, and if everyone is still looking for me--”

“They are. Sammy is leading them.”

Bendy flinched. “That settles it, then. Take her? Please?”

Pulling his arms away from the cowering figure pressed against him, you were left completely exposed under the scrutiny of the fallen angel. She studied you distastefully for a second, then finally gave in.

“Fine. Let's go.”

“What?” You squeaked when Alice held out a single hand to you and tried scrabbling at the ink demon, who was trying to pry you off of him. “No, I’ll stay here, I can help, I can--”

“No.”

“No, really, I can!” Hysteria bubbled up in the back of your throat and encouraged you to dig your nails into his skinny, melting shoulders. “I'm sorry, I just--”

“Let me go.”

“Bendy!”

“Make sure no one sees her, Alice.”

_“Bendy!”_

Before ripping you off of him, Bendy blinked away the hot, choking feeling that had returned, pressed his forehead to yours one last time, then murmured, “I love you.”

Alice Angel had finally had enough of the display and grabbed your wrist, dragging you out of the office to the dark hallway that Sammy was advancing on.

There was the faintest breath of an “I love you, too" in the air.

Then you dove into the shadows with an ink angel in the lead and disappeared.

Bendy had but a few minutes to make the office as inconspicuous as possible while he awaited the inevitable. A few moments passed. The floorboards outside of the office creaked. He counted to five, took the breath that he didn't need, and strode out to face Sammy Lawrence.

The musician was standing patiently in the middle of the hall. If you took it out of context, then it would seem like he was waiting for a bus or his turn in line. The sad truth was that he was, in fact, waiting for the moment when his boss would tear apart Bendy both for research and those wonderful ink sacrifices.

He snorted when the said demon materialized out of the gloom. “It took you long enough.”

Refusing to answer, Bendy glared at the man while planning his escape route.

“I wouldn't do that if I were you,” remarked Sammy as if he had read the cartoon’s mind and blinked.

At the signal, the workers who were lurking at the edges of the hallway took a pace forward and formed a tight ring around the duo, with the addition of Norman Polk in their ranks. The Projectionist had, for the most part, kept his vow on neutrality. It was hard to resist the allure of knowledge when Sammy came across him and offered a place at his side. This way, he could watch at a close proximity, which he hadn't been able to do before. The only problem was that he had to take off the soothing veil of darkness and slither around his superiors, not to mention dealing with whatever was happening right now. He didn't have to wonder for too long, luckily.

Sammy broke the long, hard stare with Bendy and turned away, beckoning for the ink demon to follow. It wasn't like he had much of a choice with the circle closing in and shepherding him down the hall, en route to the Ink Machine.

“You'll see in time, my Lord,” the cultist spoke up, referring to the devil's reluctance. “After all, the book is almost done. Then _everyone_ will see.”

The acrid smell of chemicals and ink made Bendy gag as he unwillingly approached _that_ room. Joey would be there, standing over pools of misery while assuring him that everything would be fine. If the ink demon had any sense, then he would have shoved aside those who stood in his way and fled the incriminating scene, but he was held back by that invisible force of fear.

He hated it.

Instilled in him since he had barely taken shape out of the puddles from whence he came, fear was the reason for everything, especially how he shrank away and allowed himself to be dragged into the spotlight at the sight of Joey’s cold gaze. It was the reason why he didn't protest as he was strapped down and spread across the already stained table; it was the reason why he just listened as Joey indirectly taunted him while deciding what needed to be sliced open and, more importantly, what tool would do the job; it was the reason why he was acquainted with the sudden shooting pain over his stomach; it was the reason why he was absolutely terrified by the only good thing in his life coming into contact with everything that went wrong.

He couldn't help it.

Bendy squeezed his eyes shut, hung his jaw, and let out an earsplitting scream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you love me, let me go.


	22. Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What did I do to you?
> 
> ...
> 
> What did you to me?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *wheezes* hEY HEY HEY, I'M TK AND BACK TODAY FOR ANOTHER UPDATE TODAY!
> 
> God, I hauled ass to get this done...
> 
> So, my grades weren't terrible enough so that I got my stuff taken! Thank god!
> 
> I have nothing to say besides Happy early Thanksgiving and thank you for 700 kudos, so...
> 
> Read and enjoy!
> 
> *collapses*

The next day was a drag, using the lightest of terms. Due to the humiliation of Shawn Flynn and your indirect involvement in it, everyone had quit whispering about you and now cowered at your feet. They still believed the rumor, of course, semi-confirmed by the way Bendy had acted over it then was seen sneaking into your office by unidentified witnesses, but they weren't treating you like having an ink demon kink was contagious. They were just treating you like a ghost. It was somewhat depressing. This shouldn't have bothered you as much as it really did. It wouldn't have been so unbearable if you actually had someone alongside you but Bendy remained out of sight for the entire day. 

You accepted the punishment and kept your head down during your shift. You should have guessed that he would do something childish like this silent treatment but that didn't make it hurt any less. Maybe you should have rebuffed his attempts to get you to leave the studio with Alice Angel (who managed to sneak you out safely, no matter how many dirty looks she gave along the way). Maybe you should have stayed.

Then you told yourself that that was a horrible idea and he would have been even angrier about it. Seeing just how volatile he could get, you really didn't feel like being on the receiving end of Shawn's treatment, and anyway, that was just plain disrespectful. You informed the ink demon of your past on your own terms. He would have to do the same when confessing his present. At least the two of you had acknowledged that there was a problem. After Alice ushered you out of the workshop, you had ran all the way home without stopping. Your lungs may have hated you once you arrived home but that was the least of your worries. What you were really concerned about was Bendy.

None of the conspiracy theories you came up with explained his behavior, the howls, and the disappearances. The only answers you would receive would come directly from the source and he was as stubborn as a bull. And had horns like one, too, you mused, remembering the holes that still marred your basement wall.

Back to the point, Bendy was none too happy today. He had finally revealed himself at the end of your shift when you were anxiously pacing near the studio exit wondering if he would be a no-show while Norman looked on disdainfully from the shadows. The sight of him was an immense relief until you saw the aloof, distracted expression he had on. Before you had time to say anything, the ink demon had blinked down at you frostily, then melted down into a silently seething puddle on the floor. You forced back tears and pretended like you didn't mind it at all while stepping out to greet the muggy night air. The ride home was awkward, with Bendy staring out the window the entire time and you struggling to string other a few coherent sentences. It became apparent soon enough that you were unable to speak and Bendy was unwilling to listen, so in light of this, you tightened your grip on the steering wheel and let the guilt trip commence. You weren't sure if you made the right choice but either way, it was over now. Bendy had done the exact same thing by stealing your photos and trying to hide them from you, so what gave him the right to withhold what he knew about the studio when you so graciously told him your entire life story upon request? There were a few key differences, however.

The chapter of your life that you revealed to him was already complete. It was in the past. If you were obsessed with your yesterday, then you were destined to repeat it. In Bendy's case, whatever he was going through was obviously an ongoing thing, which made the feelings a bit more volatile and much, much harder to voice. You knew that by experience. You could also tell that his problem was on a completely different level than your past ones. And unlike you, the ink demon found that emotions were pointless and thus, rejected he had any. Realizing that you had a problem was the first step toward alleviating it and if he wasn't even halfway through that...

You sighed. You still stood by what you had asserted before, that you just wanted Bendy to be happy, but he was making that very hard you. Your happiness couldn't be forgotten either but with the almost forgotten chasm reopening between the two of you... Happiness was far out of reach. Right now, all you felt was sickening guilt and resentment and all you really wanted was for the stupid demon who was simmering beside you to just say something but no, he had to have the mentality of a child and pout in the corner like he didn't get the toy he wanted.

It was hard to both keep an eye on the back his head and the road so you settled for not torturing yourself anymore and paying attention the bloodstained street. The sunset was almost over and only a few stars glittered across the sky. Unable to look at them, you stared tunnel-vision at the dotted lines ahead of you and moved along, continuing your earlier monologue of what could possibly reduce the terror of Joey Drew Studios to a sniveling mess.

Still, nothing added up. You were so wrapped up in the past that you had forgotten exactly what faced you at the present and nearly had a heart attack when your home appeared over the horizon. What were you going to say? How were you going to say it? What was there to say, in the first place? You thought that it was apparent last night in that neat little confession you and Bendy had made but today had disproved that. Things weren't going to be swept under the rug and hidden with a few sugar-coated "I love you"s. This was probably for the best anyway, you admitted to yourself while pulling into your sun-baked driveway. Covering problems up would make them all the nastier when they reemerged and besides, that wasn't healthy for anyone involved. Especially not someone with the habit of disregarding unresolved issues.

Before unlocking the door, you cast one last nervous look at Bendy, but found nothing but a large puddle of glistening ink on the floor. You swallowed heavily, unlocked the car, took special care to avoid the jet-black pool while leaning over the seat it formerly occupied to open the door, then stepped out after it. A particularly fierce splashing noise sounded from the side of the car as the puddle fell out to occupy your shadow. It also made sure to keep away from your feet while doing so, instead of bubbling around them as per usual. An ache opened up in your chest at this. You always snapped at Bendy when he left stains all over your shoes and ankles but now that he refrained from doing so, you realized just how much you actually liked his silly antics.

The sudden understanding terrified you. Of course, you had always nursed an extremely obscure soft spot for him despite the fact that he made your anxiety ten times worse and was determined to make your life a living hell (before grudgingly accepting that he had fallen in love with a human being), but putting how quickly he managed to wrap you around his thin fingers and how quickly that sense of comfort could be ripped away into perspective was what really frightened you.

That, and the face he made when he reformed. After taking your time making your way up your front porch and fumbling with your keys for a while, you had to accept that the time had come. You and Bendy. Alone. Not in a good way.

Fun.

When you could practically feel the annoyance flowing freely from the puddle at your feet, you opened the door, then quickly scurried in. Bendy reformed halfway between stepping into the doorway. The temperature immediately plummeted and you felt the hairs on the back of your neck prickle as you stopped to yank off your shoes, under the cold gaze of Bendy the entire time. When you couldn't stall anymore, you straightened up and withered slightly at the blank expression on his face. The ink demon met your gaze with a faint snort and flicked his tail, still not speaking as he made his way down the hall and toward the staircase. You stifled a squeak at this and stumbled after him. Before he could leave you behind downstairs, you intercepted his path and were met with an even more annoyed Bendy.

He twisted his face slightly and raised his eyebrows as if to say, _What?_

“Are you mad at me?” You whispered, wincing at how childish you sounded and studying his pale face warily.

A gusty sigh answered you and Bendy let go of whatever resentment he was clutching onto. None of it was for you, contrary to your insecurities. All of that fury was for Joey and it just happened to be directed at the closest thing to him, which was sadly you. The only thing he really felt for you was fear. “No, I'm not mad,” he started, face softening. “I'm just tired. Well, mentally. Sleep is still stupid.”

Bendy blinked at you halfheartedly and sidestepped you to trudge upstairs but you weren't entirely reassured. You gazed after his disappearing form warily, then bounded after him, gripping his tail before he could retreat into his room.

Yelping at the sudden tug, he yanked his tail away from your dumbfounded self and said in a much higher voice than usual, “Don't do that!”

“Are you sure you're not mad?” You asked again, sounding more and more childish by the minute.

“Yes, I'm sure!” The devil replied almost hysterically and tried to hide the dark gray spreading across his face by tucking his tail close to his side. “I promise I'm not mad at you, I just…” There was another sigh. Feelings, the one thing that Bendy was horrible at. Instead of continuing, he gestured to the door behind him with a careless wave and asked in his most casual tone, “You coming?”

“Yeah,” you squeaked and averted your gaze down to your shuffling feet. One of the many downsides of being in a relationship with a literal cartoon resurfaced: the lack of communication. Even if he wasn't mad at you (which was an enormous relief), then there was still something floating around in his head to make him act the way he has been. You just wished he would voice it because you were definitely not a mind reader. That would make things much easier, you thought, then backed away from Bendy to your own room. “I'll just, um, change, first…”

“Right,” he agreed uneasily, face still a pale shade of gray and tail held stiffly at his side. “Y’know where I'll be, so…”

“Yeah.” 

You made a move to tear your gaze away from the wide-eyed ink demon but before you could retreat, Bendy let out a noise between a groan and a growl and pulled you against his chest.

“I'm not mad at ya,” he sniffed, muffled by your hair. “I'm not exactly happy with you either, but I'm not mad. I just woulda rathered ya tell me before doing that.”

“I know,” came your response against his chest as you struggled with the hot feeling constructing your throat.

“But I'm not mad. I am pissed at other people but I promise, you're not one of them.”

“I'm sorry.” 

“I know."

“I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he finished and let go of you. “Go put on different clothes. Yours are gross.”

A wheezy laugh escaped you. “Thanks. I'll be back.”

“Good,” Bendy gave a dry purr and let his tail tip to start swaying again, turning away from you and disappearing behind the door to the room you now shared.

Resisting the urge to grab the ink demon’s tail again just to see his flustered reaction, you shut your weary eyes in his absence and let the giddying warmth consume you. So Bendy didn't hate you. Good. Then again, you were back to step one. Well, not entirely, since you didn't have to worry about coming to terms with being in love with a literal cartoon or the disgust of your neighbors (you were admittedly grateful for whatever happened to them, however awful it was, since now you had Bendy all to yourself). All you had to figure out was how to make him open up to you. It would be hard, considering that he barely knew how emotions worked and was only doing so well in your current relationship due to a stroke of luck. A heavy stroke of luck, at that…

Aside from how good he was at kissing, that paled in comparison to the problems looming in at every angle. Your neighbors were taken care of but they had left ripples in the pond that was your life in their wake. Bendy’s hatred for Joey Drew Studios ran much further down than the resentment of not being socialized properly. It was affecting the other two ink entities as well, especially Alice, who was alarmingly susceptible to outside forces in the absence of Susie. A small twinge in your gut made you wince as you pulled out a long, plain shirt to sleep in. You felt horrible for her and it didn't help that Bendy had practically flaunted whatever he had with you in her face. If you could find out whatever had happened to them in the first place and neutralize it, then maybe she would melt back into her previously dreamily clueless self. The angel once reminded you of a kicked puppy. Now she was a slavering mutt, sick of being shoved around and wreaking her fury on all those around her. It would have been depressing if you weren't so taken aback by her transformation. 

Puffing out of your nose, you closed your dresser after changing, then picked up the stuffed Bendy that had been resting patiently on the wardrobe to be noticed, unlike the one who was nervously awaiting your arrival in his room. The toy grinned up at you like always. You blinked back at it, internally repeating the speech you had given the plush once before.

"For your daddy," you finished aloud and stiffened your resolve.

The floorboards creaked as you crept out of your room and across the hall, reciting everything that you would say to Bendy. Though the sun hadn't fully set yet, cool moonlight spilled into the small hallway from the window over your rickety staircase. A few dust particles studded the glowing air and you blew them away. They came back for revenge. You sneezed, waved a hand to shoo them away, then replaced your grip on the Bendy toy clutched against your stomach. The real one was what you would really rather be holding onto and lucky for you, he was already sitting in the middle of his bed behind his door, waiting. Unluckily, you really couldn't just slump into his arms and forget about everything else, so maybe this confrontation wouldn't be as satisfactory as curling up together and ignoring everything. There was only one way to find out.

You did a quick mental rundown of everything you had planned to say, squeezed your toy Bendy, then nudged the door open.

Soft lamplight filled half of the room, while the other half was faintly illuminated with a few streaks of moonlight. The odd combination shrouded most of Bendy's face in shadow but that didn't keep from making out his expression. Your initial plan shattered at the sight of it.

You had never seen the ink demon look so sad or defeated.

He must have sensed your stare, because he glanced up briefly from his slightly outstretched palms, saw you, then blinked. His eyes then drifted to the plush you were practically trying to consume and his face twisted a bit, though he didn't say anything and just watched as you placed the toy on his dresser and scuttled over to him meekly like a scolded dog. You refrained from holding his flickering gaze and slipped under the covers at the edge of the bed away from him, feeling choked.

The ink demon blinked again, stretched out a skinny arm to you, and said simply, "C'mere." 

That was the last straw. Immediately rolling over and flinging yourself against him, your last few fragments of rationality were discarded and you let the hot feeling that had built up behind your optics flow freely.

"I'm sorry!" You sobbed, muffled by his chest. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm so sorry--"

"I know," he muttered back. "S'fine, I know."

"It's not fine and I'm sorry!" 

"Yes, it is fine, and I know."

"No, it's not! Nothing's fine," you whined against him and tightened your arms around his neck.

"S'fine 'cause I say so," he retorted, chin placed on top of your head and tail slowly coiling around one of your ankles. 

As you continued sobbing against him for whatever reason, the devil could feel a slight tinge of awkwardness spreading from the pit of his stomach to his fingertips. He wasn't very good at these things. So far, the only reason he had done moderately well with you was that of his confidence and some luck, but this? This was just another reminder of how horrible he was at feelings. With no real way to console you, Bendy refrained from rapping his fingers against your waist and began softly purring in your ear, hoping that you had come to associate the noise with good things like it signified.

A sniff sounded not too long after he began crooning and you remarked thickly, "You sound like my car."

The purr intensified at this. "Good. Maybe now you'll stop acting like a baby."

You pulled away from his vibrating chest (which was strangely comforting) to glare feebly at him through puffy optics. The ink demon's cooing was suddenly stuttered with a laugh and he reached his hands up to cup your face, curling his tail in amusement as it was loosely wrapped around your ankle.

"So you're really not mad at me?" 

"No, (Y/N), I'm not, but what'll make me mad is if ya keep askin' that."

"I'm sorry." 

"And if you keep sayin' that, too." 

Another sniff came from you as you reached a hand up to rub at your reddened eyes, not finding the humor in this. "But I am sorry, though." 

"You don't have to be. I just... I'm sorry. I guess I shoulda told ya about everything instead of brushing it off like I did. So, I'm sorry. And I promise that I'll tell ya, sooner rather than later. Actually, now that I think about it, I sorta did the same thing by taking your photos."

"You haven't lost those yet?"

"They're floatin' 'round here somewhere. But anyway, I'll tell when I feel like I'm ready. When we're both ready." 

"You make it sound like we're planning for a kid or something."

"Definitely not. Unless you're planning on getting me a dog. In that case, I want two."

"No way," you snorted sleepily and tried retreating back under the covers to where you previously occupied the space against his chest.

Before you could disappear under the sheets, Bendy held your face to keep you surfaced while he said, "In all seriousness, though, or at least as serious as I can be, I promise I'll tell y'everything as soon as possible." He then gave a goofy grin and pulled one of his hands away from your cheek to hold out a pinkie and repeat, "Promise."

"You're a dork," you informed him in between a yawn but took his pinkie with your own anyway, then, when the pact was sealed, you yawned again and slid back all the way underneath the covers.

"I know," the cartoon devil replied more heavily than usual and reached as far over as he could to fumble with the lamp on his nightstand. 

After a brief tussle, the illumination faded, leaving nothing but the few beams of silver moonlight to cast an eerie glow down on the ink demon's once more sagging face. He hasn't lied when he said he was exhausted. Sleep wouldn't help, though. It would just bring back the nightmares he usually got when he slept, similar to yours, but the difference was that Bendy knew perfectly well what his were about. The faint line that Joey had left over his stomach tingled as he felt you absentmindedly tracing the contours of his chest that mimicked the human form. Eventually, the occasional sniffle or hiccup you let out subsided and your breathing slowed until you were dozing at his side. Fitfully dozing, but asleep nonetheless.

Bendy began the task of untangling his tail from your legs, cursing himself for curling it around you in the first place. He didn't understand where the desire to coil it around whatever limb he could reach came from but that was hardly what mattered. Right now, he was more concerned about how on earth he was supposed to tell someone that he was a practical science experiment/religious figure for a crazed animator and his equally insane followers. Maybe that would scare you off.

But maybe that would make things easier.

The ink demon refrained from hissing both at this thought and the new knot in his tail. Flicking it angrily to unravel it, he gingerly crawled away from your sleeping form and rested on the edge of the bed. The springs creaked slightly and he winced, looking over at you but he had nothing to worry about: you were still asleep and now clutched the covers he previously occupied in compensation for his vacancy. A dragging sigh tried forcing its way out his throat but he shoved it back down frustratedly. He couldn't be mad at you over this, even if he was somewhat annoyed because that would make him a much larger hypocrite than he had previously thought. Hadn't he done the exact same thing by taking your things? He stole photos; you stole keys; he tried hoarding them and finding out the answer himself; you tried breaking into the studio and finding the answer yourself. This was admittedly his partial fault, as well. If Bendy just told you flat out when you had initially inquired, like you had done when he asked about your own life, then he wouldn't be as tangled up as he is now. It was such a close call, though. He was mainly terrified of Joey brainwashing you, or even worse, you willingly joining. He felt his hands begin to tremble and clenched them into a fist.

There was no way you would do that. Right? He imagined you laughing at the confession, teasing him that anyone who thought that he, of all people, was a god, then they obviously had a few loose screws upstairs. That was one of the better reactions but then again, this topic was so bizarre that he could hardly predict how you would act. He was then painfully reminded of you accusing him of being not a very “predictable” person. Now Bendy understood why this mattered and also why it applied to him. It wasn't like he chose to be spontaneous. It was just the way he was. Spontaneous was a slight understatement, however. Perhaps loose cannon would be more fitting in this case.

He had gotten better the past month, though! The ink demon swore it. Mainly he had tried to improve just because of you since you obviously weren't going to have him with the way he had acted toward you. That was yet another thing he couldn't help. It was hard enough being the unsocialized cartoon demon he was without the addition of feelings but adding those trivial emotions to the mix made it all the more frustrating. Even now, he felt like pouncing on the Bendy plush staring at him from his dresser and tearing it apart, limb from limb, letting the stuffing fly and ripping off the stupid smile that he saw reflected at him from every angle at the studio. It did a number on his ego to be idolized as a child. However much he hated it, he was still a complete attention hog. Maybe that was why he liked giving attention as much as receiving it, he mused, blinking behind him at the crumpled heap that was you.

The attention-starved employee that had hated Bendy as long as he liked her. And look at you now! The feeling was mutual. The devil still wasn't sure how that had happened, especially when his previous plans revolving around you had all failed horribly. Well, all except one. The one that landed him here. Honestly, he hadn't expected you to actually agree to it. He just thought that he would have had one night to make your life a living hell in punishment for making him like you so much before getting dragged back to the studio the next day. Needless to say, that had not been the case.

_What did I do to you?_ Bendy wondered, keeping himself from gaping at your sleeping self.

He paused.

_What did_ you _do to_ me?

The heavens were silent except for the sound of a sighing breeze.

Lamenting the lack of an answer, the ink demon stretched off of the bed, rummaged through his dresser, then pulled out the bundle of crinkled photographs he had stored safely underneath the shirts he hardly ever wore and began poring over them like he had done so many times before.

* * *

The next morning, you woke up alone in a pool of your own cold sweat while the Bendy plush greeted your sudden awakening with the usual grin. Your breath came out in ragged wheezes and you could infer that you had yet another nightmare, despite the memory having already faded. You took a few moments to calm yourself down, which was effective until you remembered the ink demon who shared the room with you. You whipped around, visually searching for him, but found nothing but rumpled sheets and a few dim beams of sunlight pouring onto the abandoned bed. An ache opened up in your chest but you forced it away and crept out from underneath the covers. Your eyes didn't take too long to adjust to the already faint light, though they were still sleep encrusted and weary as if you didn't even get a wink of shut-eye. Blinking away some of the gunk, you narrowed your eyes while trying to make out the time on an analog clock that looked like Bendy had tried to smash it. It wouldn't have surprised you if he did.

What did surprise you was the fact that you had awoken before five o'clock had even hit. The sun wasn't just particularly dull today, it was literally the asscrack of dawn. Perhaps it had something to do with your nighttime wandering (a terrible sin). Speaking of wandering, you slumped out of the gloomy bedroom and out into the hall, where more of the pastel sunrise cascaded down the walls in varying rose and peach and azure shades. It was silent in the house, which didn't mean much when it came to Bendy but you hoped that he hadn't decided to spend his night flooding your basement (you were still afraid of the idea despite his obvious improvement). There was only one way to find out. You jumped in and out of the bathroom, threw on a pair of pants, then slunk down the stairs and inwardly cringed whenever they creaked under your weight. Honestly, they could give anyone body image issues, even the toothpick that was Bendy.

The said toothpick was currently resting on his stomach while draped over your couch in front of the TV. You could hear his own voice come from the television and peered over the banister to watch the real ink demon narrow his eyes and flick his tail at the grating sound, not noticing you until you hopped down the last few steps and landed on the main floor with a loud thump. He nearly tumbled off the couch at the sight of you but regained his composure and scrambled into an awkward sitting position.

"Whaddya doing up this early?" He gasped, blinking rapidly.

"I'm hunting elephants," you said dryly. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"Huh. I thought you were curing cancer. My bad," came his equally sarcastic response as he resettled on his stomach, though this reply one was much less snappish than yours. "But really, don't you think you need sleep, 'specially 'cause..."

The ink demon trailed off and the tip of his tail twitched. Even if he didn't finish his sentence, you could still hear the laced accusation behind you not getting enough sleep the past few days. You sniffed and replied, "I know, but I just couldn't sleep, and it's too late to go back to bed now. It doesn't help that you left me, either," you finished almost teasingly while trudging past him into the kitchen.

"I mean, I don't need sleep, so..." He called after you and debated on whether or not he should follow.

His irrational side won, and he clambered off of the sofa to scurry after you, nearly bowling you over in the process. You squeaked at the sudden impact, taken by surprise, and whipped around from where you were leaning over the counter while making a hot drink to snap at the ink demon. In turn, he gave a sheepish grin and backed away with his tail tucked between his legs. You rolled your eyes and tried not to give a halfhearted smile while searching for an early breakfast.

"You sure you don't need any more sleep?" He asked, unsure of exactly how much rest humans needed. They did sleep all throughout the night but then again, humanity is an overindulgent race, not to mention selfish...

Suppressing a yawn, you replied, "I'm sure, now please hop off my ass so I can get food."

You had to punt Bendy to keep him from pressing himself against your backside while you were bent over at this remark. The purrs that had started reverberating in his chest were punctuated by a yelp at the blow, then laughter. The real kicker was that he got up and tried doing it again but was once more booted away by you. If anyone happened to walk by your house at this ungodly hour, then they would only be able to hear your shrieking curse and Bendy cackling as he bolted away from your assault. It was in vain, sadly. You had already been unburdened of the need for food and stalked after where the devil had disappeared into your living room, a plate in one hand and mug in the other.

Bendy--who was cowering behind a pillow with little effect, considering that he was no longer three feet tall--poked his head over the cushion and met your annoyed gaze with both amusement and wariness. "Y'aren't gonna throw that at me, are you?"

You looked at your occupied hands. "No. That's a complete waste, especially if it's on you."

"That's mean. Come watch TV?"

"I have food, though. You know what, so long as you don't put on your show, I'll sit over there."

"Fine," he agreed grudgingly, watching you make your way over while balancing your breakfast.

Once you finally made it over, you placed your plate down on your lap gingerly, leaned over Bendy to put your mug down on the end table, then said when he flinched away, "I'm not gonna hurt you or anything."

He blinked and relaxed. "Good. I don't feel like getting hurt. What food is that?"

You spent most of your breakfast fending off the ink demon who was trying to find a covert way to flip your plate over onto the floor, hooting at your increasingly flustered self. Luckily, you were able to quickly scarf everything down before he succeeded. The dish landed on the floor and a hiss of triumph came from Bendy, broken off by you ordering, "Clean that up."

His spitting turned into a whine. "Why? I'm not the one who ate off of it. I don't even need to eat."

"I know, but you're the one who threw it on the floor. So, clean it. Please," you added as an afterthought, tapping your forehead to his.

Knowing fully well what you were trying to do, the devil grumbled in agreement anyway and slid away from your side to start sweeping away the mess he had made. You watched him lazily as he did so, occasionally trying to tug on his tail whenever it swung your way but were discovered when you reached your goal and wrapped your hand around the appendage near the spade-like tip. He squealed, yanked it away from you, hissed some incoherent warning through gritted fangs and a blush, then rushed to finish tidying up. You laughed at his reaction, making his already gray face darken. A somewhat content silence lay over the two of you after the brief scuffle and you glanced out the window to the brightening sun, having nothing better to do. Though dawn had broke, it was still much earlier than your usual waking hours.

Your observations of the pale sky were cut short when Bendy unexpectedly leaped onto the couch beside you, temporarily suspending you in the air. You squealed but were cut off by a loud purr from him as he crawled over and draped himself on top of you. A huff was forced out of you at the sudden weight, drowned out by the intensifying vibrations from the back of the cartoon's throat. You squeaked again, tried to shove him off of your face, then realized your attempts were futile and went limp underneath him. He let out a rumbling sound between a purr and chuckle.

"You're lucky I wasn't holding my drink," you told him, muffled by his chest.

"I know. That's why I did it then. I didn't really feel like getting splashed, and I also didn't think that ya'd thank me for it, but I still gotta mess with you, so..." The thin tail that you had been pulling at all morning coiled around your ankle. "You're welcome."

"Thanks," you replied warmly and tugged your arms free to wrap them around his neck, in contrast to the weeks when you would have hollered at him until your throat went raw. "Really appreciate it."

Pleased with your compliance, he removed some of his weight from you and said between coos, "I am indifferent to your suffering."

It would have been happy if you weren't forcibly reminded of just how fond you were of the ink demon and just how much he was suffering, however he tried to hide it. Not noticing your sudden change in mood, Bendy began crooning again and pressed his fangs to the nape of your neck. You giggled weakly and attempted to push back all of the guilt that had come rushing back to you but it was ineffective. Laughs growing tighter and tighter, you finally pressed your face into the ink demon's neck, and began to sob.

Bendy stiffened against you. What did he do this time? The answer quickly came to him when you shuddered and choked out, "I-I'm sorry..."

Unsure of whether he should be annoyed or amused when he had already established that he was completely okay (lies), the ink devil sat up with you still wrapped around him. Your tears began running down his skinny shoulders and he rolled his obsidian optics and began laughing. Humor it was, then.

"Why d'you keep saying this when I told you it's fine?" He asked mirthfully, pressing a gloved hand to the back of your head.

You instantaneously billowed at this remark and heaved, "Don't laugh at me, you asshat! It's not fine because I know you're just doing that thing where you pretend to not care, which is completely annoying! And you saying it's fine doesn't help the way I feel so stop thinking that'll change anything!"

Taken aback, Bendy tried forcing down his snorts and replied, "Alright, but I don't understand why you have to keep at this. I said I'd tell you one day."

"You don't understand anything 'cause you're a fucking idiot," you pulled away from his shoulder and hissed in his face, though the tears watered down your anger. "And I know you said that you'd tell me, but what the hell am I supposed to do in the meantime? I don't even care about me, I care about you, because I love you, you dickhead!"

A sob burst out of you and you pressed your face against the increasingly awkward ink demon's chest again. Emotions, emotions. Bendy had no problem ripping off your shirt but god forbid he has to discuss his life, even with the person who he was most at ease at. All traces of laughter vanished, he sighed and glanced down at where you were slumped against him.

"Look, I said I'd tell ya eventually," he started, wondering if this was how it felt to navigate a minefield, "and I still stand by that, even if I'm not tellin' you right now. But I will. I'm the one who should be sorry, anyway. I haven't lied to ya but I haven't really been honest, either. And I'm sorry. You wouldn't have done this if I had just told ya in the first place, but I still can't tell ya right now, so... Y'know, I just... I dunno how to make you feel better in the meantime. Um, I mean... If you want then, uh, you can ask me anything you want that doesn't have to do with the studio. Like an interview, but not one, really..."

He trailed off when you looked up to meet his gaze with watery optics and sniffed. "Anything?"

"Anything."

"Like an interview."

"Sorta."

"Okay," you mumbled and crawled off of Bendy to sit at his side, thinking about your first question while wiping your eyes. "Um, what's your favorite color?"

A sharp laugh answered you. "You're really startin' out that basic? Black, I guess."

"Black is the absence of color, dumbass. You should know this. You're an artist. You're literally made out of an art supply."

"Fine, then, white."

"And you call me basic?"

"(Y/N), stop judgin' me and ask me something else."

This time, you laughed before moving on. "Okay, then when's your birthday?"

"Oh. Uh," the ink demon faltered and pale gray started dusting his cheeks. "I, ah, don't actually have one. Specifically, I mean. I just sorta, uh, pick a random day over the summer, then decide I'm a year older. Just another thing to remind me that I'm not human."

The sad look that you saw on him last night faintly returned and your insides twisted. "Physically, maybe not, but I think that you're a lot more human than you think. You're more human than some actual people. If it makes you feel better, then I'll pick a birthday for you, and we'll throw a really big party. Just for you. So, since you're a literal blob, how do you keep from melting half the time?"

Most of the morning was spent like this, with the sun rising ever further into the sky as your questions gradually grew deeper and deeper. Eventually, your original sadness melted away as you laughed at the ink demon's stupid responses to the most morbid of questions ("What's your biggest fear?" "Being forgotten. Honestly, though, I've nothin' to worry about, who could forget a face like this?"). When you had finished laughing at whatever recent, humorous response he gave, you recomposed yourself and sucked in a long breath. Bendy watched you, grinning, sunlight spilling over his snowy features. You smiled back and felt your insides melt at the sight, then faltered as another question came to you. It must have shown on your face because Bendy blinked down at you expectantly as you nestled into his side.

"Um," you started shyly, not meeting his gaze as you pressed your cheek to his chest. "Have you ever done... this... before?"

"This?" He echoed, mystified. "You mean telling someone all about me before or..." A gloved hand curled around yours. "This."

"Both, I guess," you murmured, squeezing his hand back.

"Well, lucky for you, I haven't done either. This is all completely new to me, so forgive my many fuckups."

"Oh." Came your mellow reply. What could you say to that? Not knowing the answer, you searched for another question. Even luckier for you, a questionnaire quickly presented itself. An extremely embarrassing one but it was all you had.

Admittedly, you were quite curious of the answer, so you swallowed some of your modesty and started, "So, um, even if you haven't exactly been with someone before, have you, uh... have you...?"

You were unable to finish with the hot blush burning your cheeks.

"Have I what?" Bendy asked, staring at your ceiling in confusion. "Whaddya mean?"

You didn't answer.

He finally looked down at you.

A small burst of understanding hit him over the head at the sight of you and he said meekly, "Oh. You mean... Right. Uh, actually... Even if I haven't, er, done this before, I have... Y'know."

Well then. That explained a lot. "Really?" You whispered, looking up at him with wide, glassy eyes.

"Yeah..." He confirmed and averted his gaze. "Twice, y'know, if I said I was gonna be completely honest." Trying to ease his discomfort, Bendy added goofily, "Y'aren't the first person to walk into Joey Drew Studios with an ink demon kink."

"I do not have an ink demon kink," you immediately snapped, to his amusement.

"Really? Then why d'you even like me?"

"Because I do, and anyway, I'm the one who's supposed to be asking questions. So," you said coolly, "when did you start liking me?"

"Very original question. Definitely did not take the general idea from me."

"Shut up and answer."

"Alright!" The ink demon exclaimed dramatically, rolling his eyes. "When? Actually, that's pretty funny, 'cause, uh, I sorta kinda have always liked y'ever since you, y'know, threw that ink bottle--"

The explanation was cut off with a shriek from you. "Since I started working there?! Are you kidding me? Why were you such an asshole to me, then?!"

"Animal magnetism?" He guessed with another stupid yet charming beam.

"I fucking hate you."

"I love you, too. That's why I love you, in fact."

"You are the dorkiest person I have ever had the displeasure of meeting."

"And that is why _you_ love _me_. Go ahead. Tell me I'm wrong."

There was nothing but silence. It was broken by Bendy laughing, then purring, then a combination. However much he rubbed you the wrong way, you allowed the ink demon to pull you back onto his lap and croon softly while holding you in his infamous death grip. By now, the sun had risen fully and most of the world was awake with the sound of cars roaring down the street and birds calling. It would soon be time for you to finish getting ready and leave, much to your annoyance.

When you could no longer ignore the time crunch, you untangled yourself from Bendy, stretched once you were freed, then explained, "I gotta go to work soon. If you want, you can come and help me with the cash register again."

To your surprise, the cartoon declined with a shake of his horned head. "I don't think so. I probably will another time but for now, I just wanna stay home and think. That okay?"

"Perfectly fine," you told him, not exactly offended but a bit taken aback. "You can think about what we're gonna do when I get back. I guess I'll get dressed and go, then..."

Swiftly, you ran upstairs, threw on a nice pair of clothes, finished touching up your reflection, then came back down to exchange a quick goodbye with Bendy and stride out the door. The ink demon watched you retreat down your front porch and into your car from the sunroom window. A faint ache opened up in his chest but he was able to ignore it and turn away from the outside world. He was satisfied that he had alleviated your pain for time being, unlike his own. In the form of Joey, it lurked behind every single last bright moment he ever had, staining it with the same fear he was stuck with his entire life. But this time, things could be different. Bendy had you, after all.

Replaying his confessions from earlier over and over in his mind, the ink demon tilted his horned head over the back of the couch, letting a new sensation replace his fear.

Hope.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, relationship struggles, complete with lack of editing...
> 
> I still have nothing to say :)
> 
> Well, except for one thing: I dunno if y'all have noticed, but I've basically been telling people exactly what happens next chapter and...
> 
> I'll give you a hint.
> 
> It starts with a "B" and ends with "endy's dick."
> 
> Yeah, so next chapter is THE chapter, just warning ya, avert your eyes, young ones!
> 
> So. Happy Thanksgiving. Time for me to go write some sin.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	23. His

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't think the gene pool needs any of my contributions."
> 
> (Warning! Chapter is without a doubt NSFW. I'm not gonna say 18+ because that doesn't even apply to me, but... be warned.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back today for the long-awaited Chapter 23, yay!
> 
> So, yeah, definitely NSFW, obviously...
> 
> And SUPER fucking long, like, this is the longest chapter yet.
> 
> Also, before you read, uh, I wanna say sorry about last chapter. For some reason it doubled itself, and I'm glad you guys told me, but...
> 
> DO I REALLY NEED A SHIT TON OF COMMENTS ON IT
> 
> It was an accident, I dunno why AO3 did that, and I'm glad y'all told me but for FUCK'S SAKE, don't beat a dead horse! I only need one person to point it out and another to confirm it, alright? Thank you...
> 
> Sorry I'm pissy, I haven't really gotten sleep and y'know, stress. Also, I might disappear, trouble with my family, I don't really wanna explain but if I do disappear then please don't freak out. Same as I said before, I'll post a thing in Twitter saying if I'm unable to write and I might make a, uh, PSA on here XD
> 
> Without further ado, here's Chapter 23! I'm not too proud of it and I'm pretty sure it's riddled with mistakes so I'm probably gonna heavily edit and maybe even rewrite this one. By the way, Chapters 1-16 are now fully (ish) edited. Thank god.
> 
> Enjoy...?
> 
> (Also, tell me if I should up the rating because of this. I'm not too sure...)

Pale sunlight trickled into a kitchen, active with the sound of water running and dishes clanging. Two days had passed since Monday and it was now a fair, early Wednesday morning. The atmosphere was mild and somewhat content both indoors and outdoors, with the sound of birdcall and the occasional voice being raised over the sound of dishes being cleaned.

You were hunched over the sink while Bendy leaned on a nearby counter, complaining about you only wanting to clean and not being any fun. Since you had another early rise, you had decided to make the most of your extra time and get some chores done before heading off to work. That would not be the case when your original plans were shattered by Bendy, who was awoken by your stirring and followed you downstairs, bothering you the entire time. His whining was punctuated every once in awhile by a tight yawn that showed his off his long, glowing fangs and forked tongue that curled with every gape. You rebuffed his latest feeble attempt to get you to quit tidying up and ignored any further ones.

After you returned from work on Monday, you spent some quality time with Bendy before dragging him out to a nearby park. You had wondered if you were overdoing the trips to the city and thought a little nature wouldn't hurt, nor would tapping into the childhood that neither of you had received, so you walked him in a direction other than Joey Drew Studios and tromped down overgrown streets while searching for the secluded path that winded through the woods and led to an abandoned playground. Bendy, however much he claimed to enjoy nature, had grown increasingly sick of tripping over stray tree roots and was threatening to turn back and leave you before you even arrived. The sneering didn't get too far under your skin. His snappish behavior soon ceased when the trail gave way to a small clearing and an out-of-repair park. The ink demon had then grumbled something that sounded vaguely like an apology and bounded up to the rickety structure.

"Sorta creepy," he had remarked with a grin, though that didn't keep him from immediately flinging himself onto a swing set.

It was cute until you heard a long, low yowl and then a screech from Bendy.

You had forgotten about the feral cat population that went out of control and set up camp there to escape the city's persecution.

Bendy proceeded to reinforce his new territory by chasing off all the unfortunate felines, though the feeling was mutual, judging by how they ripped apart his pant legs. Once he was satisfied that he had evicted the cat population, you snapped at the ink demon halfheartedly for ruining his jeans, then linked arms with him when it became apparent that he wasn't going to take you seriously and strolled through the rest of the trail, eventually making it back to civilization.

So, Monday night was... fun? It was better than Tuesday by a long shot, at least, when you had to go grocery shopping after work and didn't make it back home until nighttime. While you could have squeezed in a short date with Bendy, you were too tired to stay out and spent the rest of the day slumped against his chest, weakly trying to take the TV remote from him to turn off his show. Needless to say, you were unsuccessful. Today was looking just as uneventful, but that was fine. It was nice to relax at home and not worry about anything else. Well, for the most part.

Despite most of your worries being addressed on Monday, they needed to be alleviated, and you weren't any closer to a confession than you were on that fateful Saturday night. Bendy didn't wasn't willing to open up anytime soon even though he constantly assured you that he didn't forget; he was just trying to think of a way to tell you. You weren't sure if the devil was being truthful or dismissive.

Before you had time to dwell on this, a particularly loud whine rang out from Bendy, who had slowly crept over to your side while you were aimlessly meandering around your thoughts. You jumped at the sudden noise and glanced over at the ink demon with your lips pursed.

Not noticing your scolding look, he continued griping and groaned, "Why d'you have to be cleaning right now? Why can't you do something else with me?"

"If I don't do it now, then I'll never get it done," you replied plainly and scrubbed at the thousandth plate that morning.

"You don't have to do it all right now," he protested, pressing himself flush against your backside and further distracting you. "C'mon, you can keep me company at the table. Or on the couch. Or upstairs. In bed. I'm really not that picky."

"Tempting as that as is, I'm gonna have to say no, and _goddammit stop doing that."_ Your voice came out as a menacing hiss at the ink demon resting his chin on your shoulder and gingerly tracing his forked tongue over your neck.

When he refused to move away, you kicked his shin and he jumped back, squealing. Your rejection only made his verbal threats more and more incessant. Eventually, you couldn't take it anymore. You threw the latest dish you were working on back into the soapy water, causing a tidal wave to lap at the counters as you whipped around to face Bendy.

"Fine! I give up!" you cried over his mewling in defeat. "I'll finish these later. What's so important that you have to bother me all morning?"

A sheepish grin replaced his annoyed features. "I mean, it's nothing in particular, I just..."

While he was half-smiling and occasionally casting covert glances over to you to see your reaction, you scooped a mass of suds from the sink while he wasn't looking, then, cupping them in your palm, you raised them to your face and blew the clump at the unsuspecting ink demon. Half of the bubbles landed on the floor, and the other half met their mark.

Bendy broke off and spluttered at the sudden soapy assault. You had to keep your giggles in as he swiped at his face and gagged. Apparently, not all the bubbles landed on his face. Some had decided that it would be much funnier if they choked the devil as well as blinding him. He continued retching at the taste and blinking the suds out of his eyes while you were having a silent laughing fit over the counter. Your lack of attention would soon prove fatal when the demon eventually recovered from the attack and straightened up again, snarling darkly. Your silent heaving abruptly ceased and you propped yourself up on the counter, weak from your fit. Bendy took a single step forward. You gave him a lopsided smile, swallowed heavily, then tried darting away in the opposite direction. Your path was intercepted by the ink demon who pounced on you from behind and neutralized any attempt at freedom by pinning your arms to your sides. In short, you were fucked. Then, still growing softly, he somehow lifted you off the ground with those skinny arms of his and rendered you utterly helpless. You squealed at the sudden weightlessness, and the cartoon carried you over to the living room before tossing you onto the sofa, where you landed with a huff.

His growls vibrated in the back of his throat, but there was now amusement in his glittering black optics. Before you had time to really examine his features, Bendy tensed himself up then sprang on top of you, causing you to go temporarily airborne as the couch recoiled from the ink demon. His usual deadweight routine forced you back down, not giving you a chance to retaliate or escape.

"That was disgusting," he rumbled against your neck, fangs bared.

Your reply came out in a high, breathless squeak. "You're welcome."

The snarls reverberating in his chest faded out to a purr, though he gave no sign of moving anytime soon. "Yeah, thanks for trying to kill me, hope you try again sometime soon."

"What's wrong with eating bubbles?"

"Would you like me to stick a bar of soap down your throat and ask you that?"

"Um, no."

"Exactly. I don't even eat, anyway."

"You've made that perfectly clear, especially when you throw any food I try to offer you on the floor," you sighed back and managed to pull a hand free from his arms around your waist to start tugging at one of his horns. "Why don't you eat, anyway?"

He lifted his head to peer at you while answering and tilted away from your grasp. "'Cause I don't need to. I don't think I have a real stomach, either, so that wouldn't really end well. Even if I did, why would I? It's pointless. Doesn't it bother humans that they're constantly restricted with stuff like eating or sleeping?"

You shrugged, which was a very informative answer. "Not that I know of. Sure, sometimes it sucks to sleep especially when you need to get something done but at least you feel better afterward. And eating, well, that's just a normal human thing that we all do. You know that."

As well as tidying up and chasing away cats, this was how most of your conversations had gone the past two days. You had taken Bendy's invitation to ask him anything to heart and now didn't hesitate to interrogate him whenever you felt like it. Not only was it a good way to get to know him fully well, it also curbed those faint traces of anxiety that he had given you over your months slaving away at the studio. Sure, you had changed your mind about him a while ago, but that didn't mean you were completely cured. The ink demon managed to terrify you if he was in the right mood. That also meant your guilt for loving a cartoon was there alongside your fear, however suppressed it was. You were determined to fix that since you really did love the dork who was draped over you and absentmindedly tracing something across your collarbone (if you had paid attention, then you would have realized that it was a B. Anybody want to guess what it stood for?) and didn't want what you had with him to be tainted. No matter. Your minuscule problems could be easily dealt with. What you were more concerned about was Bendy, but he was as unyielding as ever, though he seemed to be in a good mood at the moment, if not mildly annoyed by you freeing your other hand and yanking at both of his horns. At least it wasn't his tail.

Pondering this, you interrupted the ink demon's rambling about the chemical formula of soap, pulled him up to your face, and brushed your lips against his. Bendy immediately took this development in stride and resettled his weight off of you (save for the slight pressure that remained against your hips) and cooed into your mouth. You pulled away first and told him he tasted like soap. A grimace replied to you. Unable to contain yourself, you burst out laughing and wrapped your arms around the unamused ink devil's neck, spending the rest of your morning with him weakly protesting against your giggles and you ignoring his complaining for the sake of more laughter. Eventually, Bendy silenced himself, grudgingly glad that he had made you laugh even if it was at his expense and definitely not his intent.

You were happy.

So he was, too.

Once your hair was fully tousled and work clothes wrinkled from the ink demon pouncing on you and tugging at them, you pushed him off and watched him crumple to the ground with a small snort. He scrambled up to a sitting position and hissed at you, but you swung your legs over the edge of the couch and walked away, ignoring him. It was about time to leave for work because of the strengthening sunlight and your signs of immense laziness. Dragging feet, constant eyerolls, heavy breathing that oddly enough sounded like sighing? Sounded serious. Maybe you should call in sick and pretend like you resented having to spend the entire day with Bendy when you would actually be ecstatic to fill in the space against his lanky chest. Instead of giving into the daydreaming and harking back to the ink demon, you gritted your teeth and packed your bag. It wasn't like you had much of a choice, either, when Bendy himself came barreling down the hall and refused to hop off your ass, trying to pull things out of your bag as you put them in. You grew sick of fending him off and flung the sack against his stomach. He caught it with a heave and keeled over. You let out a satisfied sniff and plucked your bag from his arms.

“That hurt!” he squeaked, still hunched over and blinking stupidly.

Dismissing his cries, you assumed nonchalantly, “So, I guess you're staying here again, right?”

“Yeah." This reply was less wheezy as the ink demon recomposed himself. “I’m still gonna think. Miss you, though.”

Despite the goofy grin he offered in the meantime, you could tell that there was an inkling of genuineness behind his shimmering eyes.

“I guess I'll miss you too, then,” you joked and wrapped your arms around his waist.

He accepted the gesture but not without a price. Whining filled your ears as the cartoon complained, “Whaddya mean, you ‘guess’? What, I'll just sit here all day and you don't even care--”

“I'll see you,” you said over his complaints, then, retracting your hold from him, you scurried over to the exit and jumped outside, closing the door on the rambling ink demon.

Once you were outside, you visually decompressed and began making your way down the blossom-strewn sidewalk to your car. Sure, you enjoyed Bendy’s company, but for Christ's sake, he could get on your nerves. However, as he had pointed out to you numerous times, that was why you loved him. Sadly.

The ink demon watched as you strode into your car, started the engine, then drove out of sight. He half-wished he had gone with you, but there were numerous things holding him back. Not only did Bendy want to ponder his own mortality and mourn over all that had gone wrong, he had more pressing matters to attend to. Such as seeking out all the pens in your house. Or accidentally spilling a bottle of ink on the floor and putting a napkin on top of it, hoping you won't notice. Or obsessively pasting completed drawings over the walls. Or, when there was no space left, dashing upstairs, nearly tripping over his tail, and ripping all the sheets off anything he could find and hoarding pillows in your living room.

Yes. Very important things.

At least, it was important to Bendy. You, on the other hand, didn't appreciate the papers and stray feathers scattered everywhere when you came back home at sunset.

“Bendy!” you immediately snapped, slamming the door closed.

"What?" came his muffled reply, emanating from somewhere down the hall.

"I can't leave you alone anywhere, can I?!"

A crazed laugh and screech answered you. "Nope!"

Now that you had stepped all the way into your welcoming hall, you could see just how extensive the chaos was. Apparently Bendy had decided to entertain himself by putting that ink of yours to good use, judging by the multiple drawings plastered all over your dining room. There was even a half-finished animation pinned to the leg of your table. You stifled a groan and settled for slapping a palm to your forehead. That explained the papers and ink splatters on the floor. That didn't explain the feathers strewn everywhere.

Well, there was only one way to find out. You put your things down on top of a stack of papers, tiptoed around a particularly large ink spill, and padded stealthily down the hallway, similar to that of a feline stalking its prey. Actual cats have gone after Bendy enough times. They could give you a chance. The feather lining over the ground grew deeper the further you prowled down the foyer until you were wading through the sea of fluffy down. For all this carnage, it did nothing to prepare you for the real deal.

Your living room had been practically converted to a mattress store. Pillows were strewn everywhere, mainly clustered around a mass toward the center of the room. A canopy of blankets formed something reminiscent of a roof over the plush walls and you could just see a spade-tipped tail poking out of the mound.

You gaped, but words escaped you at the sight of the enormous pillow fort before you.

Sensing your presence, Bendy poked his head out of a small gap in the pillows and grinned with half-lidded eyes. "Heya."

It was like the sound of his voice knocked you out of your temporary shock. "BENDY!" you shrieked, making the ink demon wince, though his radiant beam faltered only briefly.

"What?" he said, shit-eating smile growing even wider after the hesitation. "C'mon, get in here with me. I can always pick it up after and you need to stop freaking out over everything."

Your already wide eyes bulged at the accusation. "I need to stop freaking out?! Bendy, it looks like you murdered a chicken!"

"Oh. That. Well, I accidentally ripped one of your pillows, and it sorta kinda exploded everywhere but hey! I had enough left over."

Since your gaze couldn't get any more intense, you let out a rumbling sigh while rubbing your aching temples. Your oncoming headache peaked when Bendy's cold, sharp voice pierced the silence.

"So, you gonna stand there and check me out, or you gonna get in here and enjoy the view up close," he wondered lazily, then added as an afterthought, "From my di--"

"No!" You immediately howled and cut the devil off, really not wanting him to finish that statement. "There is no fucking way I am getting in there with you and besides, how would I even fit in the first place?!"

"This is the door," he informed you and angled his horns and tail over to a nearby pillow.

The pillow fell.

"That _was_ the door," he corrected himself with a dainty look at the fallen cushion.

Refraining from giggling, jumping into the fort with him, and wrapping your arms around his thin neck while tapping your forehead to his and calling him a dumbass, your tsundere self spat at the ink demon. Bendy, also being the glutton for punishment that he was, laughed madly at your anger and caused another pillow to fall off the top of the pile and hit him over the horned head. Instead of fazing the ink demon, this only fueled his manic fire. You watched disdainfully as he continued cackling and let an almost crazed spark light up his eyes. It was unsettling. And also a bit cute.

Perhaps a better term would be confusing.

Regaining some of his sanity, the cartoon hooted, "C'mon, (Y/N), keep me company? Please?" His pleading grew into a high, grating squawk. "Please?"

"I need to change!" You exclaimed as an excuse but were surprisingly brushed off.

"No, you don't, actually," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I have some clothes for you in here. This is your home now."

Well then. So he really was determined to get you to join him in that pillow fort. That damn inviting pillow fort, reeling you in with the promise of Bendy. It was too much to bear. You sighed, relaxed your shoulders, and shuffled your stance in haughty defeat. The ink demon noticed your sudden change in demeanor and beamed, tail now lashing excitedly as you hesitantly picked your way through the feathers over to him.

"So, that's the door?" you inquired warily for confirmation, pointing to the gap in the mound that the fallen pillow had left.

Bendy narrowed his obsidian optics, retreated back into the fort, and let out a stifled huff. "That _was_ the door."

Finally out of his scrutiny, you bit your lip and grinned at the place he disappeared but kept your tone bland. "So I just..."

You dropped onto your knees and crawled through the gloomy tunnel. Obviously, Bendy had made this only with himself in mind, because your hips kept on brushing the sides of the entrance and you were afraid that you would knock it over with one wrong placement of your thighs. The tight space soon opened up to something roomier in comparison but it was still tiny. Bendy grinned from the corner and trilled at your arrival, fangs illuminated by the faint light that trickled in through his "window".

"Told ya it'd be fun," he crooned from the dark.

"That is a huge overstatement," you snapped, having to curl up into a ball to keep from taking up too much of the already claustrophobic space. "There's no room in here!"

Even the ink demon had to keep his head bowed so that his horns wouldn't cave in the roof but nonetheless, he scoffed, "Of course there is. Otherwise you wouldn't fit."

"Why'd you use so many pillows on the outside and leave no space in here?"

"Good defenses. Keep the outside world out. And you in."

"Great. I've always wanted to be held hostage by a cartoon character. Also, you said that you got me clothes. Gimme."

"And I thought I was the rude one," he teased and tossed the pile of fabric resting at his side at your face.

It was a pretty clean shot, especially with how dim it was, but you didn't appreciate Bendy's skill and snapped at him for the throw. Then he reminded you of the soap that morning and you silenced your snarling to quiet mumbling while pulling off your shirt. The devil cursed himself for forgetting to bring a light source into the makeshift tent once he heard your bra crumple onto the carpet alongside your shirt so he settled for tracing a single gloved hand up your stomach, only to be slapped away and scolded before he could reach something really worth his time. This didn't deter him, however. He still had one trick up his sleeve.

Unaware of his scheming plan, you gathered your old clothes, pulled on the much more comfortable top he had gotten you, then reached for some bottoms. Strangely enough, there was only a pair of underwear. No pants. Not even some shorts. You narrowed your eyes dangerously in the gloom and peered up at Bendy.

"So this is your master plan, huh."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You get me no pants, and I'm pretty sure this is the skimpiest pair of panties you could find. Besides the fact that I don't much appreciate you going through my drawers, what the hell?"

"Easy access."

"You're in a funny mood today."

"Nah, I'm just happy and tryna make that known. I'm also hilarious, so..."

"Dick jokes. Very funny. Super original. Ten out of ten."

" _Twenty_ out of ten. Now c'mon, take off your pants and try to lighten up for once."

You grimaced but stripped down anyway, barking at the ink demon not to look even though it was almost impossible to see. Bendy both thanked and cursed the dim lighting when you threw your pants at his head and his tail trembled violently. Once you were done, he purred dryly, curled his arms around you, and shuffled you over onto his lap. You allowed him to do this with a fake grimace even though you felt your stomach flip.

"Now we can do something fun," he said in your ear, trying to keep the laughter out of his voice. "We can pretend like we're the last people on earth. Well, person..." A finger tapped your knee. "...and almost person." The pressure was removed as he placed his hand on his chest.

"You're a person," you stated stubbornly and crossed your arms.

"Yeah, well, maybe. We can pretend like everyone died," his purrs grew deeper. "And we have to repopulate."

That was it. You were done. You wiggled in his steely grip and hissed, "No!"

"Mhmm. But you can't leave 'cause then you'll die, too."

"I'll take my chances. Wait, can you even get someone, uh...?"

"That's actually a good question. I dunno. I mean, I don't think so but I never actually... came in anybody. Then again, I'm literally made out of ink. I don't think the gene pool needs any of my contributions."

"Oh."

"You gonna stay with me, then?"

"Eh. Maybe.”

"Please?"

"Why?"

"Please?"

"Why?"

"Please?"

Tired of his pleading, you snapped, "Alright, I'll stay!" Then crumpled into one of the corners away from Bendy and grumbled softly.

The ink demon laughed at your reluctance and shimmied you back over to him, resting his chin on your shoulder and pressing his cheek against yours. In spite of yourself, you let him envelop you again and grudgingly turned around to face him, wrapping your arms around his neck and sliding down his chest, which was stuttered with silent chortles. Why he found this funny, you didn't know, but you were perfectly happy to coil around him and sit there for the time being. You were especially happy when he raised your face to his and cupped it gently while fitting his lips onto yours.

If only it lasted.

A few moments into the touch, the cartoon devil had conveniently forgotten about his horns and the roof of the pillow fort. He straightened up for a better angle to tilt his head, which promptly collapsed the entire structure. One of the blankets caught on his horns, and when he moved, he dragged it, toppling all of the cushions into a messy jumble.

"What the hell," he murmured against your neck when his sight was suddenly obstructed by a fluffy wall.

You untangled yourself from him and said, "Good job. You made your entire house fall apart."

"I did not," he snorted crossly until you grabbed one of his horns.

"Yeah, these did. And they're you, so... Clean this up."

"What! I have to clean something up again?"

"Bendy, just put the pillows and blankets away where they're supposed to go, I'll help you tackle everything else tomorrow. Plus, I need to eat."

With a few growls about the human need for consumption and how cleaning was the worst, Bendy stood up and yanked the blanket off of him. You noted how disgruntled he looked and pressed your hands flush against his chest and said, “Just throw everything away upstairs while I eat really quick. Then I'll meet you upstairs, alright?”

He scowled and looked down. Then your thighs caught his gaze.

“Alright,” he agreed unenthusiastically, dipping his head as he began plucking the sheets off of the floor.

“Good,” you agreed serenely and left him to go search for dinner.

The sounds of Bendy dragging himself up and down the stairs ceased eventually, as well as his growling. It was troublesome sitting at your dining room table, what with the ink skills and papers everywhere, so you settled for sitting on top of the counter with a dish in your lap. While Bendy hadn't grabbed the thinnest pair of underwear for you, you could now see that they were black. Of course. Not wanting to ponder the meaning behind this choice, you sighed, looked out the window, and observed the now overgrown hedge at the side of your yard that was bathed in violet hues from the dying sunset. It was the beginning of nighttime by the time you cleaned your plate and Bendy had gone, for the most part, quiet. You took after his silence and placed your dish in the sink gingerly, cleaned up your crumbs, then made sure to avoid getting showered with feathers while sneaking down the hall and up the stairs. When you made it all the way up and into your shared room, the ink demon hadn't noticed your arrival yet and was absentmindedly tugging at the fingers of his gloves. His gaze then drifted off of his hand and over to the door where you were perched. A grin lit up his once sulky features and you watched as his tail lashed underneath him and thumped against the bed. Unable to contain yourself, you laughed, scurried over to the bed, then threw yourself onto the ink demon. He caught you with a whoop that faded out into a loud croon as he pulled you flush against him.

“You did a crap job putting the pillows back,” you noted into his shoulder at the sight of the pillows that were strewn everywhere and the feathers that had followed the ink demon upstairs.

“Ah, who cares,” he rumbled against your neck and traced his fangs over the skin. “It's just a bed. Not like it’ll stay perfect anyway.”

“What are you trying to say.”

“I'm tryna say that you kill people in your sleep. Want me to tell you how many times you've hit me in the face?”

“I have not.”

“Yeah, you have. More than once. Like I give you nightmares or something.”

That was a bit too close to the truth for your liking. “No. It's nothing. Sorry for hitting your face,” you finished teasingly, tracing a hand over one of his pale cheeks.

“I accept your apology,” Bendy cooed, optics briefly lidded before he grew slightly serious. “But, uh, did I really use to…?”

The rest of his question trailed away and he raised an eyebrow while ghosting his hands up your sides. You shut your eyes at the feeling and let him trace up your arms, take your hands in his, then raise them over his head, forcing you closer to him. “Used to what?” You breathed out, heart rate spiking.

“Used to, uh, scare you,” came the end of his question meekly. “‘Cause I know that you said that I, um, didn't really help your anxiety, and I was just wondering… if I still scare you.”

“No,” you answered immediately and honestly, surprising even yourself. “I mean, you're always gonna be a pretty intimidating guy, especially because you're, you know, a literal demon. But do you still freak me out? No, not really.”

A sigh fell out of him. “Good,” he murmured, then fixated his lips on the nape of your neck.

Your face heated up at the feeling of his forked tongue and you arched your back, pressing you further into the ink demon. This time, there wouldn't be any TV on to distract you from the sudden heat pooling between your thighs as Bendy began sliding his tongue down from your neck to your collarbone, hissing the entire way. Before dipping even lower, he retracted his teeth and caught your lips with his own. It was immensely hard not to moan softly into his mouth, especially when he nipped at your lower lip and moved his grip from your hands to your wrists, so you settled for leaning even further into him. At this point, you swore that you could feel the thick bulge in his pants pressing against your thigh and tested the theory by lightly rocking your hips down onto his. Bendy immediately flushed underneath you and gave a strangled groan.

Yup. So you were definitely doing this.

That was fine with you when the ink demon withdrew his tongue from yours and let go of your wrists to tug at the hem of your shirt. Instead of offering to help, you bit your lip and traced your freed hands down his chest, feeling the faint contours that hinted at a human form, as well as the ink starting slick over him. His own hands trembled as they made their way up your sides underneath your top until they reached your breasts. Lucky for Bendy, there was nothing but your shirt in the way, but that didn't matter too much at the moment. He was perfectly happy tracing a thumb over one of your hardening nipples despite you having your bothersome top still on and hindering him slightly. A gasp escaped you at his light touch and you paused the slow movements you were making down to the button of his pants, slumping back down against him and whining. The devil let out a few breathy laughs over your reaction and retracted his gloved hands to slide both of them back down to your waist and cling to your hips.

Long fangs grazed your neck as Bendy traced his hands even further down, to your thighs. Purring softly, he offered another open-mouthed kiss that you gratefully accepted, though not without bucking your hips against his again. This time it was plain to see what you were doing and much, much easier to feel the hard outline that was growing increasingly uncomfortable for the ink demon. Trying not to moan as he slid his tongue underneath yours, the cartoon opened his eyes just a hair, then caught the gaze of the Bendy toy, sitting mortified on his dresser. He glowered at it as best as he could with you being practically glued on top of him and decided to kill two birds with one stone.

A faint pop sounded as the devil pulled away from you a second time to once again fiddle with the hem of your shirt, lifting it a few inches while occasionally giving you a questioning look. You instantly complied and sat up, still straddling the ink demon, then raised your arms so he could whisk away the fabric and toss it in a seemingly aimless throw when in reality, Bendy was shooting for the judgmental plush on his dresser. His aim was true and the toy was knocked to the floor with a squeak. Good. That takes care of one thing.

Bendy's only focus now laid with you, splaying your hands over his chest and trying to covertly find some kind of friction on top of him, letting out cute moans every so often when you found a particularly satisfying angle. With a croon, he dragged you back down to being almost flush against him once more and began tracing his thin, forked tongue back over the place on your collarbone that he had abandoned earlier. On top of the ink demon, you were a complete shuddering mess, both from the sudden cold over your bust and Bendy shuffling downwards until he was under your chest. He flickered his tongue over one of your breasts. You yelped and shivered, grabbing one of his horns. Unlike the times where he was mildly annoyed by your habit of doing so, he snarled darkly and dug his fingertips into your waist at the tug. You refrained from letting out a nervous laugh and instead gaped at him kneading at your chest and eventually taking a breast in his mouth.

This time, you didn't look over at a TV bearing bad news. This time you wouldn't have cared about what it had to say, anyway. This time Bendy removed his fangs from your hot, prickly skin, rolled over while holding you, and pinned you underneath him.

He hissed at your blushing self and immediately took advantage of the new position by holding your wrists over your head while sliding his tongue over yours. Instead of you dictating the pressure being placed on his hips, the ink devil growled and rubbed them against the one piece of fabric separating you from him. He noted this fact by briefly fingering the waistband of your panties before returning to his previous position of grasping your wrists and kissing you deeply.

You sighed underneath him from out of your nose and weren't sure if you should cover your face in embarrassment or wrap your legs around his waist and beg for him to take you. Both were pretty accurate representations of how you were currently feeling. Of course, you were ecstatic that Bendy was perfectly fine with showing you how much he loved you but then again, this was unexplored territory for you: you had no idea what you should be doing but you just knew that you wanted whatever that long outline in his pants was really, really bad. For all your internal conflicts about having sex with a literal cartoon, you immediately felt your stomach drop when he withdrew from the treatment over your chest and started eying your legs again. You watched him from your place underneath him and felt your breath catch.

Maybe it was somewhat wrong to find (as I once again remind you) a cartoon character hot but you couldn't help it. If anyone else was in your place, then they would understand.

A few beams of moonlight lit up the room with an eerie glow, bathing half of the ink demon in silver while the other half was covered in shadow. The cold lighting picked out the few beads of ink welling over his chest and horns in the place of what would be sweat for humans and didn't do much to hide the bump in his pants. Even then, you still didn't think that there would be any way to hide it. It was, no joke, massive. If you weren't so overcome with want then you would probably be concerned for your virginity.

Catching your wide-eyed stare, the ink demon gave a sheepish grin and lifted an arm to rub the back of his neck. The other free hand traced over your hip bone through your underwear.

"This is... fine, with you, right?" He checked in a husky pant and pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek, raising a single brow.

Your response initially came out as a squeak. Then, covering up your error and swallowing heavily, you replied shyly, "Yeah, I've just, uh, never... never done this... before..."

He tilted his head at you and peered out from narrowed, glittering obsidian optics. "And I've never done this with someone I actually like before. I didn't even think I was capable of loving someone, until you came along and had to fuck that up. So, thanks." The usual cold and sarcastic tone of his melted along with the rest of his expression. "I love you, (Y/N)."

"I-I love you, too," you stammered out and kept from pressing your thighs together in embarrassment.

Pleased with your response, the ink demon purred and leaned back down to you briefly to press your cheeks together and whisper in your ear, "Promise I'll make you feel good."

His pinkie was held out at your side and you took it. Usually, you would have called him a dork but now, you simply whimpered into his neck.

Bendy cooed and accepted your consent, nipping at your shoulder and slowly working his way down. He paused for a moment between your breasts, dragged his tongue over them, then continued ghosting his way down until he was puffing right over the hem of your panties. Keeping yourself from crying out even before he did anything with you, you froze and stared down at him with doe eyes. The cartoon devil briefly met your gaze but decided that there were more pressing matters to attend to.

Like wrenching open your thighs and swinging one over his shoulder and suckling at the inside of the other. A bolt went down your spine at his proximity to the ache between your legs and you gasped, digging your fingers into the sheets. Purring gratifyingly, Bendy continued placing pecks over your skin, getting close but not close enough to you. Eventually, it became overbearing. You were nearly ready to scream before he puffed against the already soaked part of your underwear and glanced up. Meeting your gaze, he flashed his tongue with a grin and pulled off his gloves and bow. They were discarded with a toss over his shoulder and the ink demon finally traced a single thin finger over you through the fabric. You gritted your teeth and kept from bucking forward. A silly pout went over Bendy's face at your lack of a reaction he was searching for but this mild setback was forgotten the moment he hooked your underwear.

He pulled it down.

Your heart almost burst out of your chest but with one look at the ink demon, your worries faded away. The article of clothing was now free from you and Bendy held it from a finger with a smirk. It was discarded just as carelessly as his gloves and now there was nothing to distract him from the overbearing sweet, musky smell or your soft moans. He watched you a bit longer with a warm but hungry look then refocused between your legs. His tail trembled and he finally traced a single thumb over you. You let out a faint cry and twisted under the single touch. A chuckle answered you and the ink demon teased his fingertips over you, coaxing out more groans and yelps. The playfulness didn't last long, however. Between your shivers and the tightness still in Bendy's pants, there was no time to waste.

The ink demon took his fingers away and replaced them with his tongue.

You temporarily blinked out. Bendy. And his tongue. _Bendy's_ tongue. That thin, forked, long, jet-black fucking _snake_ tongue was sliding between your thighs and the feeling was nothing short of amazing. You arched your back and called out to the ink demon who was now steadily lapping at you, then, shuddering, you shot your hands out and gripped both of his horns, pulling him as close as possible to you. He snarled and grazed his teeth across you at the tugs, only heightening your pleasure as he slid the forked tip of his tongue in you. Your vision swam at the tingling sensation. Glancing up between your thighs to watch you moan as your blush darkened, Bendy narrowed his eyes and flickered his tongue in further. For once, he was thankful for his past experience and how unnaturally long his tongue was. The ink demon huffed and paused once he had slid in as far as possible, soaking in the sweet taste and your soft keening. You suddenly let out a frustrated groan at his lack of movement and yanked at his horns. Bendy noticed your insistence, hissed around you, then curled his tongue to press against one of your walls.

A sudden shock went up your spine, making you gasp, "Bendy!"

Bendy purred in response, the vibrations sending more tremors through your body as he gave into your begging and flickered his tongue inside of you.

Your cry raised an octave. Before you could clamp down on him and release, the ink demon pulled away, swiping his tongue over his lips and fangs with a purr. He dragged himself up to you, silenced your incoming protests with a deep kiss (that you could, strangely enough, taste yourself on), then pressed his still clothed hips against yours. That reminded you. While he was still distracted by trying to shove his tongue down your throat, you once again started the journey down his chest, tracing the now familiar imitation of muscle, splaying your hands over him, then placing a palm against the hard outline below the button of his jeans. Bendy immediately stiffened at the light touch and halted the activity of choking you with his tongue. He pulled away. Then glanced down. And back up.

The ink demon raised an eyebrow and rolled back on his haunches, which you knew couldn't be even remotely comfortable for him, but that was probably the point. It showed off the bulge in his pants and gave incentive for ripping them off as soon as possible. You bit your lip, squeezed his length through his jeans, and fumbled with his button. They came undone easily with a snap the ink demon melted under the release of some pressure. Then you yanked on his zipper, which was a bit difficult, but it eventually unzipped and his jeans sagged to reveal the usual black boxers. Bendy kicked off his pants and they crumpled to the floor, leaving you to stare at the only piece of clothing left between the two of you. His cock pressed against the thin fabric, making it tent, but it felt a hell of a lot better than those painful jeans, especially when you rubbed a thumb over the tip through the clothing. An appreciative groan escaped him and he humped forward against your touch. You continued chewing on your lower lip and traced the underside of him, squeezed it slightly, then slid a finger up to hook to the waistband of his boxers. He blinked at you hazily, desperately trying to keep his eyes from flickering into little hearts. You dragged the last piece of clothing down.

 _Oh my god I want that,_ you immediately thought.

The thick, inky black length of his had bounced out in the absence of any restriction and now curved against one of your thighs. A few pearls of ink had already welled up at the tip. Bendy gave a noise between a growl and purr at the sudden cool air against him and one of the droplets slid down over all those faint ridges, bumps, and dark veins to the base of his cock. It was a struggle to keep yourself from yanking him down against you and begging for it, so you compromised by cupping his already slick length in your hand softly. He hissed and bucked forward, smearing ink over your hand. While trying to find some kind of pace, you couldn't help but stare at his cock. All of your sick little obsessive fantasies paled in comparison to the real deal. The _enormous_ real deal. That came as a surprise. A nice one, though.

“Ah, fuck,” he suddenly grunted from above you, knocking you out of your lovestruck stupor.

Apparently, your most recent motion was a bit too jerky. You flushed as you remembered your lack of experience and muttered, “Sorry.”

Instead of answering, Bendy rolled his eyes, swatted your hand away, then bent over to croon loudly in your ear and pepper kisses over your neck and face. Your teeth chattered and you giggled weakly, throwing your hands over his skinny shoulders and pressing the sides of your legs around his waist, acutely aware of his cock pressing against your abdomen. He refrained from angling himself properly to slip in and continued giving you fluttery, ticklish nuzzles.

“Stoooooop,” you said weakly, not really wanting him to cease.

Lucky for you, he called you bluff and looked up at you with almost puppy-dog like eyes and cooed, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” you whispered back and pulled him up by his horns to tap your foreheads together.

Purrs then rumbled into your mouth as he gave you another kiss to match the ones he placed over your face. The next few moments continued like this, with the two of you sighing things back and forth without much friction, despite the burning ache that refused to go away. At least, it went like this until Bendy shifted himself for a better angle to kiss you and the tip of his length was pressing against your entrance, not quite inside but extremely close nonetheless. The ink demon froze from where he was lapping at the nape of your neck and lifted his head. Your gazes met, one wide and pleading and the other shy and half-lidded.

“Is… Is this…” He started uncertainly, fingertips twitching, cock dripping.

You sucked in a deep breath, buried your face into his neck, and whined, “Please…”

Tail coiling around one of your thighs, Bendy straightened up, whispered your name, and rolled his skinny hips forward. You squeaked at the sudden feeling of him but didn't complain, until he was halfway in. The warm feeling that had begun to permeate you became tinged with a dull pain. The devil held the side of your face and murmured something gentle and reassuring before sliding in all the way to the hilt and pausing.

“D’you…” He broke off, panting and stifling a growl before finishing, “Do you want me to stop?”

“Just w-wait,” you squeaked, clenching your hands around his shoulders and arching your back against the discomfort.

That was a challenge but Bendy accepted it with a puff, tracing his hands over your sides in the meantime, trying to remember every curve. Sometime later, when you were still squirming underneath him and he was desperately clinging to the last reserves of his self-control, he allowed himself some wiggle room and shifted just a hair. However meager the movement was, you gasped and tightened around him, able to feel every ridge of his slightly throbbing cock. A hiss was forced from the ink demon and he felt his face bloom with dark gray as he glanced down at your now slightly embarrassed form. He let out a husky mewl and pulled out halfway before rolling forward again. You groaned as a sudden bolt of pleasure shocked you.

Noticing this, Bendy cupped your cheek again, whispered, "I'll make you feel good," then began rocking himself back and forth at a slow pace.

A haze immediately enveloped you in the smell of ice and paper and ink and you tilted your head, crying out from the tingling sensation, barely hearing the almost amused purrs coming from Bendy at your reaction once he picked up the pace. All you could focus on was how good it felt and how much you loved him and that this, this is what you were missing--

“Bendy!” You heaved, shuddering and wrapping your legs around his waist.

Interpreting this as a sign to start going just a little faster and maybe push you a tiny bit further into the bed, the ink demon groaned and snapped forward. You let out another squeal and twisted underneath him. It didn't matter that he was a cartoon, it didn't matter that he wasn't human, it didn't matter what was happening at Joey Drew Studios, nothing else mattered besides the bedsheets rustling and the headboard rattling and you dragging Bendy’s face toward yours by those long horns you loved as he grunted and pumped his hips forward. For once, he allowed you to pull him around and met you with a deep, long kiss that further filled your senses with the confusing taste of inky ice. Your teeth involuntarily chattered and clacked against his fangs, though it didn't seem to bother him what with the particularly harsh thrust he gave in the meantime. You let out a muffled call into his mouth and slung your arms around his neck, then slid them down his back. The tail around your thigh tightened as the ink demon bucked against you. You yelped at being jarred into the bed and dug your nails into his back. Growling and ignoring the sting, he gripped the sheets at your sides for some leverage to his already forceful thrusts and pressed his face into your neck. His unusually cool breath chilled the area, soothing you, until he dug his fangs into the skin roughly and gripped your hips so tight that they would bruise in the shape of his fingertips. You moaned, feeling a warm knot begin squeezing your insides at him filling you. The previous mewls turned into incoherent begging and you clung to the devil for dear life.

Taking advantage of the way you were holding onto him, Bendy halted the jarring pace he had set, retracted his fangs from your shoulder to give you a  heated kiss, and rolled over so that you were on top of him all while purring. You yelped at the sudden shift, then realized exactly what position you were now in. An apprehensive look was cast down at the gray-faced, smirking ink demon underneath you.

"What?" He said in a husky voice. "Ya can't expect me to do all the work, babe."

When you didn't reply and continued staring down at him like a deer caught in headlights, Bendy rolled his eyes. He propped himself up on his elbows, reached one hand up to the back of your head to pull your face down next to his, then snarled softly in your ear, "Show me how much you love me, (Y/N)..."

Your hands shook over his chest. The way he had hissed your name made a shiver go down your spine and all you could do was watch as Bendy leaned back down, gazing up at you just as carefully. His still hard length pressed against one of your trembling, ink-stained thighs. The cartoon then refocused onto his cock and he licked his pale lips, pressing himself forward invitingly, as if he meant to reassure you. On the contrary, this did quite the opposite of reassuring you.

However much you would have loved to sink down onto his thick length and soothe the ache between your legs, you bit your lip and mewled, "I... I don't know--"

"Don't know what?" Bendy interrupted you breathily before you could go on. "D'you think I care if this is your first time?" His sneer then became a warm huff as he reached up to stroke your cheek while slowly rubbing your hips together. "S'not like we're making a damn porno. Whatever you do, it'll be fine, because it's _you_ , and I just wanna make ya feel good. So you're doing _fine_. I love you, (Y/N)."

Now you felt somewhat better, but there was still the slight problem of you not knowing what the hell to do. Bendy sighed in affectionate exasperation and put one hand on your hip, the other gripping the base of his cock.

"Look, just..." he began vaguely as he lifted you over himself, then, trailing off with a light purr, rubbed the tip of his length over you and dragged you down to slowly envelop him.

A gasp escaped you as you were once more spread by the ink demon. Your hands balled into fists against his chest. Bendy removed his hand from his cock once he was fully inside of you and placed it so that he was now holding onto both sides of your waist, letting out a faint hiss at the warmth and tightness around him. You moaned in response and arched your back at the feeling of the new position. Was it better? You weren't sure. You weren't sure about anything. All you could think about was how stupid you had acted before and how good it had started feeling again.

Bendy huffed underneath you, face heating up as he began guiding your hips up and down over him. His expression twisted slightly when you cried out over the slow, hard movements and he tossed his horned head back. By now, you had gotten a feel for how you were supposed to do this and rocked down against the cartoon along with his help. Eventually, he took his hands away from your hips to knead at your slightly bouncing chest.

"Bendy!" You cried, tightening around him as you attempted to quicken the pace.

A gasp that sounded suspiciously like your name was forced out of the ink devil at this, then he hissed more intelligibly, "...fuck, that's good..."

Blushing at the compliment, you whined again and continued bucking down against Bendy's hips. Your motions weren't quite as fluid as they had been when Bendy helped you but they still did the trick. The same hot feeling from before consumed you, squeezing your insides, making you squirm over the demon underneath you who was slowly losing control. Eventually, it became too much to bear. He began jerking up to meet you, driving his cock in all the way to the hilt before pulling out to the tip again. He shut his eyes, listening to you cry out over him, then wrapped his arms around your waist to pull your chest flush against his. You had no choice but to slump down against him and take in the feeling your bare skin sliding against his as he pumped his hips upward. That was fine with you, though. Now you could just wrap your arms around his neck and moan loudly at the feeling of him once again biting down on your shoulder, waiting for when the perfect moment when the devil would pull you under with him.

A particularly dark snarl vibrated against you and Bendy slammed in, needily pursuing the same release that you had become so focused on, then was fed up with the current position. He pulled out, leaving your own hot slick running down your ink-stained legs in the cold air. Before you had time to protest, he darted out from underneath you, pushed you face down into the bed, and pounced.

“ _Bendy!_ ” You screeched in a high, desperate voice that didn't seem to belong to you.

The ink demon had thrusted in again, growling heavily and chest brushing your backside. “Fuck, (Y/N), say my name, scream for me, god, you're all fucking _mine_ …”

To prove his point, he dug his teeth back into your shoulder and held your hips in place, keeping you from being jarred too far upward and away from him. Nothing but complete and utter bliss filled you when you closed your eyes and soaked in the love and lust and intense pleasure.

This. This is what it was like to be loved.

Unable to reply to the many variations of “I love you” being snarled in your ear, you simply hung your head and groaned, pleading for that one perfect thrust to send you over the edge. Between the shocks of ecstasy coursing through you, the devil suckling on your shoulder while his motions became much more frantic and jerky, and just how close you were, it couldn't be too far off.

“Bendy…” you sighed and were answered by him slamming in and clamping his fangs further into your skin.

Lewd wet slaps reverberated throughout the room and you would have once again been utterly embarrassed but now, you could hardly care. All you cared about was Bendy and he was currently hissing about how much he loved you while searching for the perfect angle. Your chest tightened and fluttered at it, along with the knot in the pit of your stomach clenching. Bendy grunted, pulled your back flush against him and shuddered. Once again, he couldn't believe that the volunteer who had hated him with every fiber of her being was writhing and begging and practically saturated in love underneath him. He felt his own release build up but pushed it back with an angry spit. The only thing he was concerned about was you, the promise to make you feel good, and he would live up to that promise.

Then his resolution shattered when your cries grew hoarse and eventually faded away into little, tight mewls of his name. He swallowed heavily, flicked his forked tongue over the bite marks he left on your shoulder, then angled himself as much as possible. Your eyes snapped open with a gasp then an almost scream at the sudden change. Moaning at the sudden contraction around his cock, Bendy gave a few more feeble thrusts against the perfect spot of yours that he had found, then when he was fully hilted, spilled inside of you, tilting his horned head back and hollering your name.

His cum shot out against you at that perfect angle and you choked, let out a final loud groan, and came as he let out the last couple of strands. You could barely feel the ink demon bucking his hips a few more times. A hot, white haze spread over you like a blanket and you felt your jaw drop as your last words came tumbling out, mostly including Bendy’s name. Not long after you had finished, the cartoon placed a single peck on your shoulder, slowly rubbed his hips against yours one last time to seal the touch, then began sliding out. You instinctively tightened around him. Soft moans rang out from the both of you at this and you shivered once the ink demon had completely pulled out.

In his absence, your legs buckled and you collapsed onto the bed. Blinking away the last few traces of release, Bendy made you out in the moonlight and watched you tremble, bathed in a gossamer sheen, for a few heartbeats. Sweat slicked your sides and a few splatters of ink lined the insides of your thighs, matching the bitemarks on your shoulders, the only traces that Bendy had ever been there.

It was beautiful.

And all fucking _his._

He couldn't contain himself. The ink demon let out a deafening purr, dove under the covers, and pulled your still dazed self under with him. You allowed him to press you against his vibrating chest numbly and wrapped your arms around his neck. Did you just do that? You really did just do that.

Oh my god.

The incoming faint guilt and overwhelming giddiness were fought back by Bendy, who continued rumbling while peppering kisses over your face, chanting, “I love you” over and over and over.

You mumbled something against his inky black skin that might have been an “I love you, too,” but we may never know.

The last few sensations you had were that of Bendy curling himself around you, completely and utterly in love, and a hot, sticky, jet-black liquid dripping out between your thighs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *nine months later* yOU FUCKED UP, bItCh


	24. Rain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't mind, oh, I don't mind, I don't mind the rain.
> 
> The simple things and subtleties, they always stay the same.
> 
> I don't mind it, I don't mind, no, I don't mind the rain.
> 
> Like a widow's heart, we fall apart but never fade away, fade away.
> 
> Oh, like a child, do you know where I came from? No, I don't, but I'm singing all the same songs. All alone and you're looking for your anyone.
> 
> Does it hurt just to know that it's all gone?
> 
> I could feel the pain in the words that you say, hidden in the letters that were written in no name. Let me be the hands that you hold to your face, 'cause I'd give it all up if I could take away.
> 
> Buried in red, white, and silenced in blue. Some will die too late and somebody too soon. If you could come back, we'll see what it cost him. We had to lose it all just to know that we lost one.
> 
> I am just a shape in the shadow of greats.
> 
> I am just a voice in the choir of saints.
> 
> Oh, all the souls that nobody could save.
> 
> And just like a light, we fade away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm super sorry for the late update today.
> 
> So, long story short, my doggo broke his leg a few days ago. Yup. I had to take him to the vet and get him a splint and he hasn't really been at his best. I've had to feed the fucker out of my hand for him to eat anything and he can't really move without yelping. It was a bad break, so... *inhales* I've been dealing with that.
> 
> Also, school sucks, I just happened to get writer's block in the middle of writing this, yadda yadda, whatever. Sorry for the late update. Plus, only, like, half of it is edited, 'cause I just didn't have time. I wanna fix last chapter too, I'm still not too happy with it...
> 
> Besides that, I hope this long chapter makes up for it. Sorry.
> 
> Enjoy.

Varying shades of vibrant gold, amber, and rouge leaves cascaded across a shockingly blue sky, blown away by a cool autumn breeze. Our familiar small bird sat hunched in the boughs of a skeletal tree, wing unbroken, though its feathers were much fluffier and it was so little it looked like a mere ball of fluff fighting against the gale.  
  
A much less tired and more impressionable version of you strode purposefully down the sidewalk under the younger bird's tree, bundled up against the cool fall air.  
  
It was a memory, though you were unaware of this.  
  
All that you knew was that you had just arrived at a new and daunting city a few months ago to escape your parents' shadow and the hatred being directed to you from your former, drug addict friends, especially the girl you had roomed with after fleeing your previous home. Now you were free and somewhat settled. With some help from your former roommate's mother (who was a sweet, divorced woman full of love for anyone under her roof, much to her daughter's distaste), a few strings being pulled, many sleepless nights, the exhaustion of nearly all the money you had saved throughout high school, and some shameful begging, you had managed to buy a quaint house on the outskirts of the city. The small neighborhood wasn't great and neither was the house, at that, but it was home, and that was all you really wanted. Your furniture mostly consisted of unwanted pieces from your old friend's house and some goodwill items but that was fine with you. It wasn't like you were a particularly materialistic or selfish person. No, you had transcended that phase of your life and were now looking at a greater dawn.  
  
Then, luck had again shined down on you after moving in and you had somehow landed a job at a nearby strip mall. Why the manager hired you, you did not know, though it most likely had something to do with cheap labor and the moldability of youth. Still, you couldn't look a gift horse in the mouth. That job had saved you from a multitude of hungry nights yet and there were bound to be more instances. The pay wasn't fabulous but you would take it.  
  
Along with this job, you needed something to occupy your time out of work, and since you hadn't really had friends since your junior year of high school (or fake friends, at that), you had nothing to do but putz around a city that wasn't exactly safe for a teenager out on her own for the first time. You liked looking at the displays and bright lights, though, even if it was as unattainable as some company. Aside from your impending loneliness, which at the time wasn't stifling and was easily ignored, there was still some free time left over. You didn't want to prance around a city for two days straight over the increasingly cold weekend, so in response to this, you answered an ad put out by Joey Drew Studios, asking for volunteer help. It seemed like a good idea at the time and besides, what was the worst that could happen? Even if you weren't great at it, you enjoyed drawing and it might be fun to learn how to animate properly and get to know everyone behind that hit cartoon.  
  
Bendy.  
  
You had watched it when you were a child. Who didn't? Most people, however, didn't remain obsessed with it until they became an adult. It was almost like a security blanket. If your parents didn't want to acknowledge your existence, fine, then, you would just lock yourself away from the rest of the world and watch any episodes featuring Bendy. He was an asshole. Maybe that was why you loved his character. Along with giving you some sense of comfort, the show fueled your desire to try and draw something worthwhile but all of the animations you had done so far were shaky and inconsistent. That day, you were determined to return the favor to the workers who had already given you so much.  
  
You didn't think that the only thing they had to offer was an ink demon with a Napoleon complex who you would just happen to start sleeping with two seasons later.  
  
So, there you were, doe-eyed and ignorant, staring avidly at Joey Drew Studios as it appeared over the horizon, marking the end of your thoughtful stroll. Not many cars were parked out front yet, though that was just because you had decided to arrive early. Be professional. A good example. You honestly did not want to blow at this internship, either. It was amazing they had even accepted you in the first place. In fact, Joey Drew himself had replied to your inquiry earlier that week, telling you that if you wanted to then you could start as soon as possible. You had to admit that you were a bit taken aback by this easy acceptance but instantly complied, making plans to start that weekend. The animator had told you that he was looking forward to it in a warm voice, said goodbye, and hung up. For most of the week, you told yourself you were looking forward to it as well, but now...  
  
That former excitement had faded at the sight of Joey Drew Studios, leaving you with nothing but apprehension. Were they really going to accept you that easily? Only one way to find out. You swallowed your impending dread, shuddered against the harsh wind, and advanced upon the workshop. It grew ever closer with each wary footfall, teasing you, mocking you, sneering that you would never unlock whatever secrets it held and the ocean of anxiety pressing down on your chest bubbled up into your throat and then--  
  
You finally placed your foot on the front step of the workshop, breathless. You didn't realize that you had broken out into a run and were glad that no one had noticed your embarrassment. The parking lot remained desolate, confirmed by a long, scrutinizing stare from you. When you were satisfied that your self-confidence was intact, your gaze drifted back over to the studio towering over you imposingly. You gulped at the sight but assured yourself that you were just being silly. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of. After all, it was just an animation studio. What's the worse that could happen?  
  
With this mantra in mind, you steadied yourself and began tromping up the steps. Another breeze made both you and structure tremble and you silently hoped for some heat on the other side of the door. Leaves scuttled at your feet, tickling your nose with a musty scent. You refrained from sneezing, hopped over the last stair, and rested your hand on the bitterly cold doorknob that would lead you down the rabbit hole that is Joey Drew Studios. You paused. Is this really what you wanted? Spending your weekends at some failing animation studio instead of making an effort to be social?  
  
Apparently, it was. You turned the knob and pushed on the door. It opened with a creak, inviting you to step into its murky depths. The moment you took a few paces into the entry hall, a particularly furious gust of wind slammed the door shut behind you, sealing your fate. Jumping at the unexpected bang, you recomposed yourself and examined the fresh scenery surrounding you. It was dusty, of course, with a distinct smell of age and ink hanging in the stagnant air. It wouldn't help your sniffles. A cardboard Bendy cutout rested against a corner while some projector ran an animation with the said demon. Cute. You grinned at it nervously, then returned your attention to the halls branching away from the main room. Either you could search for Joey yourself since it was obvious that no one was here to welcome your entrance, or you could sit down in front of a projector and fiddle with it absentmindedly while waiting. Decisions, decisions.  
  
Before you could make up your mind, a harassed-looking man stormed out of one of the hallways you were examining. He looked to be about somewhere in his middle ages, though definitely not as far along as he really was. It seemed like age had treated him kindly but that was where anything remotely kind about him ended. His hair was frazzled, eyes wide, and a few splatters of ink lining his cheek completed the manic look. You felt your stomach clench until the man glanced upward from where he was scowling at the floor, met your uncertain gaze, then broke out into a warm beam.  
  
"Hello! (Y/N), was it?" He greeted with outstretched arms, though his grin never fully reached his eyes.  
  
Unaware of this, you answered, "Y-Yes, sir."  
  
The man missed a beat as if he wasn't expecting such formality but appreciated and... maybe even enjoyed it. "Alright. I'm glad you're here. I'm Joey Drew, in case you didn't recognize my voice. I'll be taking care of your shifts and the jobs you're given. Before I get you started, may I ask what you're doing here so early?"  
  
"I-I didn't really have anything better to be doing and I figured that I'd get a headstart..." came your lame response and you broke the stare to blink at your feet, pondering how much of an idiot you were.  
  
Luckily, Joey smiled again and assured, "Just wondering. If you want, then I can just run a few things by you, rules and such, then get you started on something. Would that be fine?"  
  
You nodded shyly and the animator gave another coaxing beam, perhaps realizing what a reserved human being you were.  
  
"Great. But before I get you settled, there's something I need to show you. If you'll just follow me then I'll lead you there." Without waiting for an answer, your new boss spun on one heel, faced the hall he had materialized from, then began slinking down it, giving you no choice but to follow. Joey Drew always remained a few paces ahead of speaking reach so you assumed that you were meant to stay quiet and trotted after him obediently. The entry hall faded behind you and you were hailed out by a Bendy animation waving at you until it disappeared behind a wall, and thus, from your memory.  
  
Joey led you through the winding and confusing layout of the studio as he searched for his office. You hadn't the faintest clue as to why he needed to drag you around, probably just for some employee orientation, but didn't complain either way. It wouldn't be a good first impression and besides, you weren't someone who whines, though you were very tempted to become one. The hallways were endless. You couldn't even remember the last turn you had taken before getting whisked away down a staircase and past another horde of Bendy cutouts. Was it horde? Or pack? Pride? Murder? A murder of Bendy cutouts. Fitting, especially with the way they glared at you as you passed. If looks could kill, then you would have dropped dead that instant. Then again, many people who have crossed paths with you would have been annihilated already.  
  
Once you were about ready to take your eyes out with a pen from the wild goose chase, a certain door loomed in the distance and you instantaneously knew that this was Joey's office. The aura of the musty studio became colder, harder. You couldn't place your finger on the specific terminology. It was simply unexplainable. Little did you know at the time, it was the years of suffering permeating the rotting walls of the workshop, this particular hall being saturated in the resentment of the employees, the agony of the ink entities you had yet to meet, and the animator's heartache that continued resonating from twenty-five years ago.  
  
Your own source of heartache had yet to present himself and you were woefully unaware of the seasons to come. The present was just a little higher up on your list of priorities. Okay, a lot. There was no current need to worry about college boys and ink creatures. Joey paused in the middle of turning the knob, interrupting your inner monologue, and swung his head to face you with strangely fierce, searching optics.  
  
“Alright, (Y/N),” he started in a low, reassuring tone that sounded like he was talking to a mental patient or dimwitted child. “Before you start working here, you have to get… used to some things.” Seeing your expression twist in dismay, Drew hurried on, “It's nothing horrible, I promise, just… Do you consider yourself an open-minded person?”  
  
That was an odd question. Taken aback, you reeled your head and blinked rapidly. “You mean if I'm not judgmental? I-I don't think so, but why--”  
  
“You'll see. Look, this is something you can't tell anyone outside of studio about. Anyone,” he repeated, the flames in his eyes dancing wildly.  
  
“Not like I have anyone to tell in the first place,” you joked to hide the panic flaring in your chest.  
  
In response to the terrified look beginning to veil your sight, Joey relaxed, dubbing you as thoroughly conditioned. “Good. I don't mean to scare you, but… You'll see. So please, try to stay calm and I promise it won't be so bad after a while. Well, if they--” he broke off suspiciously and narrowed his eyes. “You'll see. Come on, it won't be so bad.”  
  
The statement did nothing to ease your conscious. You trembled as he began turning the doorknob, nearly collapsing when the entrance clicked open. So far, he had done a terrible job assuaging your fears. His little speech only made your anxiety worse and you were wondering what on earth he could be hiding when he gestured for you to step into his office. Despite your internal voice screaming at you to turn tail and run the other way, you scuttled in past Joey, who seemed both pleased with and intrigued by your easy compliance.  
  
Perhaps you would be a sparkling new addition to his nighttime proceedings.  
  
The head animator kept this in mind while striding in behind you. He kept this in mind for that day, the next, a few weeks later, a month, until two seasons passed, and the allure of a lamb had yet to fade even by then. The said lamb was currently squinting in the gloom of Joey Drew’s office. There wasn't anything that you could make out in particular, so you were still (quite literally) in the dark when it came to Joey’s warnings. You stifled a sneeze against the dust motes floating at your feet. While you were fending off the sniffles, Joey stepped away from behind you and walked mechanically over to his desk. His route was perfect from years of memorization and he didn't even trip over a stray, spade-tipped tail on the way.  
  
“Are you alright?” He called out to you from the shadows with one hand over the switch on his desk lamp  
  
“I'm fine,” you replied thickly, cursing yourself for not bringing tissues.  
  
Then, without warning, the lamp was flicked on, temporarily blinding you. Wincing against the sudden light, you rubbed your nose one last time, straightened up, then squinted at the now illuminated form of Joey.  
  
“What was that you wanted to show me?” You wondered aloud and stumbled over to his desk.  
  
The animator blinked at you, stepped aside, and said, “This.”  
  
Infinitely more confused than before, you stared at him avidly for a few more seconds, then turned away and continued cringing against the close proximity of the light. Large, colorful spots blurred your sight and stars speckled your vision even after the sudden exposure. You goggled at your feet, then, when you were no longer in danger of going blind or exploding in a bout of sneezing, looked up.  
  
Jet-black cartoon eyes narrowed once your gazes met. You instantaneously forgot about your discomfort, gasped, and scrambled backward. The edges of the desk dug into your back but you could hardly care.  
  
What you really cared about was that _thing_ currently sneering at you.  
  
“Oh, great, another one like this,” Bendy started, rolling his eyes and breaking the silence. “I can talk now, right? Actually, wait, no, I don't care, I'm doing it anyway."  
  
"That's no way to behave," Joey snapped suddenly while you were still in shock.  
  
The three-foot cartoon rolled his eyes again and mocked in a singsong voice, "That's no way to beha-a-ave!"  
  
"Bendy!"  
  
"Joey!"  
  
Gritting his teeth, the animator began snapping something in a furious hiss but was drowned out by the small demon chortling. Bendy turned back to you when it became apparent Joey had given up trying to chastise him. His little horns and soft features were accentuated by the lamplight, letting you properly soak in the sight of a living cartoon who was also scrutinizing you distastefully, fully aware of your incredulous gawking.  
  
"Heya," he finally said in that harsh, frosty tone of his, accompanied by the shit-eating grin that would haunt for two seasons straight.  
  
You did the only natural thing.  
  
You screeched and chucked the closest thing to you at the devil, which just happened to be an ink bottle.  
  
It met its mark with a loud crack, followed by the sound of glass shattering. Bendy abruptly paused in the middle of another rant of his. Snapping his optics open, the ink demon inhaled sharply at the impact. He looked at his hands. Then back up at you. Ink dripped over his palms and face, covering one of his wide eyes. His slightly parted mouth twisted into an ugly shape as he gaped up at your trembling form, nothing short of mortified.  
  
Then the memory warped. Instead of Bendy letting out a shriek of disgust, you going ballistic, and Joey darting in to interfere before you killed someone, the ink demon snarled in a deep baritone that shouldn't have even been possible for someone his size. Those needle-like fangs of his glowed eerily in the brilliant lamplight before they morphed into the long, kitchen knife incisors that you would become accustomed to all those months later. In fact, his entire shape distorted, doubling his height out of thin air. There was something off about it, however. While it was no longer the small, cartoon-perfect Bendy, it also wasn't the near-human version you would learn to love. His arms were off balance, stomach distended, foot twisted and…  
  
You finally looked up.  
  
You wished you didn't.  
  
The ink now poured over both of his eyes, obstructing his view, but he still scowled down at you, which was quite a feat to pull off considering a flat grin was now plastered over his face. You blanched at the sight and scrambled against the desk, trying to back away from the monstrosity. Where was Joey? Did he know what was going on? Eyes flashing with panic, you cast your gaze around but could find no trace of the animator. You were in this alone.  
  
The thought terrified you but that was nothing in comparison when “Bendy” took a limping step forward. At his movement, the invisible force gripping your throat released. You screamed, fell backward over the desk, and skittered away to the door as the malformed ink demon behind you gave a gurgling snarl. Panic fluttered in your chest like a trapped view and you could do nothing but wheeze and yank desperately at the doorknob, which appeared to be stuck. Great. It probably didn't help that your hands were shaking so badly that they were ready to fall off your wrists. When it became apparent there was no escape, you whipped around to face the ink demon who had been silently slumping up to you and pressed your back against the wall. Sweat slicked your palms but you could do nothing but watch “Bendy” lash his tail and take another slow, predatorial step forward. You screeched. He didn’t like that.  
  
The ink demon coiled his contorted self, roared, and sprang forward with his oozing, gloved hands outstretched.

* * *

Just as his fingers met your neck, you awoke in the middle of a hoarse cry, feeling hot and cold at the same time. Luckily, you didn't wake up in a pool of your own sweat this time but that didn't mean much. A sticky feeling still clung to your skin, along with two lanky arms curled around your waist in their familiar death grip. Then a deafening purr sounded in your ear and resonated throughout your entire body. You opened your eyes and were met with a thin expanse of jet-black that you concluded was Bendy’s chest. You glanced up. The ink demon was dozing, upper lip occasionally twitching as he let out more rusty purrs in his sleep. His tail was curled around your thigh, much higher up than its usual place around your ankle, the tip occasionally flicking over your bare skin. You shuddered when the sharp point briefly scratched at you, then faltered. Bare skin.  
  
Last night came rushing back to you in a torrent as if your mental dams had been broken, the memory of your nightmare swept away by the floods. Whatever frost was in your veins was consumed by a hot flame that burned your face and made your insides melt. So that was a thing now. You actually did that. Okay.  
  
Sending your thunderstruck stare, Bendy gave a final rumbling noise before his eyes fluttered open. He blinked against the pale, dappled light that spilled over the sheets he was ducked under, then glanced down at where you were eyeballing him. A grin spread across his face and he looked as if he wanted to say something but was interrupted by a large yawn forcing its way out of him. You giggled wheezily and traced a hand up from where it splayed against his chest, placing it over one of his snowy cheeks while he yawned.  
  
“Hi,” he said in a muffled voice as he gaped.  
  
“Is that what you say in the morning? Just ‘hi’?” You teased, still hoarse (for obvious reasons).  
  
The ink demon cocked an eyebrow while his yawn continued, unable to give a decent reply. Finally, his forked tongue curled one last time and he clamped his jaw shut.  
  
“You expect me to call something good when it's not?” He grumbled and moved one hand up to the back of your head, forcing you flush against him again.  
  
Relief suddenly flooded through you at this disgruntled remark. Though you didn't want to admit it, you were somewhat worried about how he would act towards you after... you know. It was silly but bothersome at the same time how you wondered if he was the type of person to decide the entire hierarchy had to be rearranged after putting his dick in someone. Like you said. Silly. Bendy was still a dork and you were still your fretful self. The realization would have been comforting if you weren't currently being suffocated by the cartoon who was practically trying to absorb you.  
  
"Get off of me," you snapped against his inky black skin.  
  
In response to you scrabbling at his shoulders to pry yourself free, Bendy cooed and tightened his constricting grip.  
  
"Bendy."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Get off of me."  
  
"Say my name again?"  
  
"Get off."  
  
"Nooooooo," he suddenly whined, nuzzling his cheek against yours. "Stay here." The whines then dropped to a purr as he began sliding his hands up from your waist to your sides. "With me."  
  
"No, Bendy," you chided and slapped his hands away before he could paw at your chest.  
  
He responded by flashing his forked tongue at you lazily.  
  
That just confirmed your suspicions that you actually slept with a twenty-year-old child. "Let go of me, you're gonna make me late and I need to take a shower."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"'Cause I feel gross, no thanks to you."  
  
"Ya didn't complain about it last night when I--"  
  
"Bendy."  
  
"What," he yawned again nonchalantly and ducked his horned head underneath the sheets, pulling you down with him with a gusty purr. "You're mine now."  
  
"Bendy, get off."  
  
"C'mon," black eyes glittered in the dark environment. "Just stay with me."  
  
"No."  
  
It seemed like your rejection didn't do much because he went right back to enveloping you and gliding his hands to a point of interest, this time down your legs.  
  
Pushing him away again, you repeated, “No,” then began kicking the covers off of yourself.  
  
Bendy hissed at the cold air and faint sunlight and retreated back to his place in the darkness. For someone who said sleep was useless, he was quite partial to the activity. You almost wished that you had stayed with him instead of stumbling out onto the carpet. Your bare legs shook with both cold and soreness as you trudged to the foot of the bed, picking up whatever stray clothes of yours were strewn carelessly over the floor on the way. Gritting your teeth from the ache of having to lean down and force your legs to move, you straightened up, then glanced down at yourself.  
  
“Bendy!” You immediately screeched at the lump who was curled up under the blankets.  
  
“What?” The lump grumbled, shuffling for a bit before poking his head out of the den he had made himself. “Whaddya--oh. Don’t worry,” Bendy said, following your mortified gaze down to your ink-stained legs. He blinked, narrowed his eyes against the light, then began purring as he sunk back down into the covers. “I’m nontoxic…”  
  
You snarled and chucked the clothes you had managed to gather at approximately where the ink demon’s head was. They met their mark, confirmed by a grunt, and the sheets began rustling again as Bendy rearranged himself. You rolled your eyes once he settled back down and left your old outfit to keep him company as you strode out of the room. The hallway was even colder and you shivered, wrapping your arms around yourself to maintain some warmth. Your legs still trembled and felt like stilts but you figured there was nothing a cold shower couldn't fix. Except for maybe your virginity. But that was okay, you told yourself as you turned to the door at your side, which led into your bathroom. The tile further chilled your feet and you shuddered, drifting across the surface.  
  
Surprisingly enough, you weren't too concerned about losing it to a literal cartoon. It wasn't like Bendy took it; you gave it to him. The only thing that bothered you was the same fear that you had nursed for almost two months: discovery. Sure, college douche and fossil were gone, but who did they take down with them? Could you really keep going back and forth between the studio and home with Bendy, who absolutely hated getting dragged back to Joey Drew’s feet? These thoughts haunted you as you twisted the shower on, waited for it to heat up, then stepped in. The water at your feet immediately bled black at your entrance and you stared at it warily as it was sucked down the drain with an unattractive slurp.  
  
_Nontoxic my ass,_ you internally snorted, hoping that you didn't get ink poisoning from something so senseless. Still, it was just ink. Right?  
  
Shaking away whatever hunch you had, you began scrubbing yourself down, hoping that you weren't permanently stained from being constantly exposed to ink. Lucky for you, it seemed like you had cleaned up nicely. That was a relief, considering it had been sitting there practically all night. The last time you were drenched in ink (remember your nighttime wandering of the studio? Not a memory you really wanted to relive), it didn't get any time to set. You had washed it off as soon as possible. This time, you had to scrub a bit more and your legs were rubbed raw from the vigorous cleaning but it turned out fine. You just couldn’t wear anything too heavy or fancy that would irritate your skin today.  
  
That also wouldn't be a problem. An idea had formed in your mind while you were drying off after shaking off whatever moisture you could in the shower. When you were, for the most part, dry, you wrapped a towel around yourself and stepped out of the bathroom. Steam followed your exit. You looked over at the ajar door to your shared room and could make out the unmoving lump who continued resting on the bed. Refraining the urge to sneak up on the ink demon and scare the living daylights out of his drowsy self by leaping onto him, you turned away, slunk down the hall, and made it over to the stairs. A few beams of stuttered sunlight lit up the steps. It was partially cloudy out the window overhanging the staircase. A cold feeling washed over you just by looking at it, even though it was the verge of summer. You stifled a shudder and began descending down the stairs, wishing you were either back under the hot stream of water from your showerhead or dozing with Bendy. Suppressing the urge to give into these desires, you hopped down the last steps, rearranged your towel, then made your way down the dimly lit hall over to your dining room. Feathers still lined the floor in a downy coat, puffing up around your feet and sticking to the bare underside. You kicked them away disgustedly, nearly slipped over an ink puddle, and snapped out a curse to the currently absent Bendy for not cleaning up after himself. When your mini temper tantrum was over, you picked up the hardly ever used phone sitting on the edge of your dining room table and dialed something before bringing it to your ear. A muted ringing sounded in the interlude.  
  
The holdup was beginning to get on your nerves but a gruff voice eventually picked up. "Hello?"  
  
Wincing at the lack of professionalism, you sniffed, and replied to the voice.  
  
Meanwhile, Bendy was embracing his new role as a bed burrito. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since you left him but it hardly mattered. It was nice being coiled up in a toasty ball while pondering over your relationship, alone. So, you really did love him and weren't terrified of him. The revelation was quite nice and admittedly, the ink demon had been afraid of the thought, though he still wondered if he had somehow made a mistake by choosing to stow away in your bag in the first place. Sure, he had finally done what he had been ashamedly fantasizing about since your first few weeks at the studio but an actual relationship he was invested in? For the millionth time, Bendy was no good at feelings. Maybe he should have listened to Boris' warnings all those weeks ago. Then he snorted and nearly suffocated on the bed sheets. Listen to Boris? Next, he would be trying to convince himself that Alice was straight. In short terms, he was saying "absolutely not". So you were sniffing around some secrets that shouldn't be sniffed around. So he sealed the deal and made love to you. So what? He had never had an opportunity like this in his entire life. Even though all good things would inevitably come to an end, the ink demon was determined to make the most of it and eventually tie up those loose ends revolving around your vague knowledge of the nighttime rituals at the studio. Right now, on the other hand, Bendy was perfectly content to drift off and replay last night over and over again in his head while hiding from the faint sunbeams flickering into the room.  
  
Too bad he didn't get to enjoy it. You had finished your obscure phone call by then and silently crept upstairs, wanting to fulfill your desire of bowling the half awake ink demon over. You were still completely bare but you had gotten used to the cold, besides, you sorta kinda just really wanted the feeling of Bendy's skin sliding against yours one last time before the day began. The thought made you shudder as you padded into your shared room and eyed the lump on the bed. From his outline, you could make out approximately where his head and the rest of his body was. You only needed to avoid his horns and tail.  
  
Plan set in place, you shuffled over to the edge of the bed, tensed up, then sprang. A yelp ending in a huff answered your sudden attack and the devil thrashed underneath you in confusion. Your laughs drained out his spitting and it soon became apparent who had dared to interrupt his special reflection time. He internally fumed but went limp under you, then when you assumed you had broken his will, Bendy flipped over so fast that you didn't know what was happening until you were the one pinned down by a snarling demon.  
  
"Hi," you said up to him pleasantly, pretending he didn't have you completely at his mercy.  
  
It somehow worked because Bendy narrowed his eyes and grunted back, "Hi."  
  
"Can you get off of me."  
  
His eyes briefly flickered over your form. "No."  
  
"Get up, we both need to get dressed."  
  
"Why do I have to?" Bendy whined and you took the chance to shimmy out from underneath him. "S'not like I'm doing anything."  
  
"Maybe not now, but what do you wanna do?" You asked, sitting at the edge of the bed and kicking your exposed legs back and forth.  
  
The ink demon whipped over to face you from where you abandoned him in the middle of the bed. "Whaddya mean."  
  
"I mean, I might have picked a really convenient time to get sick and call into my work and tell them that I won't be there for today or tomorrow. So, what do you wanna do?"  
  
There was a brief silence at your confession. Then the momentary quiet was shattered when the cartoon crooned and practically flung himself at you. A laugh was forced out of you when he started nipping and lapping at your neck and you could faintly hear his tail thump against the bed. You eventually forced him off and said, "Alright, alright, so what do you wanna do?"  
  
"Anything I want?" Liquid black optics peered at you questioningly, a sparkle in their depths.  
  
"Anything within reason," you amended. "So no volcano or ocean. Sorry."  
  
"S'fine," Bendy sniffed, unraveling himself from your waist and neck to stand up and dig through one of his dresser drawers. "Um, there might be one place, actually, but it might be sorta weird so..."  
  
Laughing, you leaned back, spread yourself over the bed, and retorted, "Then it'll match you perfectly."  
  
The jibe flew right over the ink devil's head as he pulled something out of his dresser, then slumped back down beside you. The bed jumped at the sudden weight, jolting you briefly. You were about to complain that Bendy had done it on purpose until you looked over and saw his thoughtful expression as he looked down at something in his palm and over at you.  
  
“Here,” he said simply.  
  
“What?”  
  
“I want to go here,” he explained and held our whatever he was holding to you.  
  
Mystified, you sat up and examined what he was presenting to you, then inwardly cringed. Those damn photos again. When you asked him if he still had them, you were sort of hoping he had lost them. His vague answer led you to believe so but surprise! Here they were again. Stifling a sigh, you took the bundle from him, scrutinizing the one he handed to you of your hometown.  
  
“Is it near here or…?” Bendy started asking, knocking you out of the stupor that you had involuntarily fallen into.  
  
“What? Oh, yeah. I mean, I guess if you wanna go then we can, it's a few hours away, but why here of all places?”  
  
“Why not?”  
  
“Alright, then. If you really wanna go to a crappy, rundown town, then I can take you. I gotta brush my teeth and get dressed, though, and so do you. We'll spend today there and tomorrow we'll stay at home. We need to clean up the mess you left downstairs and plaster the holes you put in my wall. Yeah, I didn't forget about that, and don't start complaining ‘cause I know you want to. I need clothes”  
  
With that remark, you left, ignoring the ink demon's protests for you to stay and swear off clothing of any type. By the time you finished getting ready, Bendy was throwing on the usual hoodie. His pockets bulged as he stuffed them full of the photos he had stashed away in his dresser. However much you didn't like them, it bothered you how the edges bent at the ink demon's rough handling. You pulled him out of his room, nearly fell down the stairs when he tried thundering past you, and had to deal with him shrieking when he slipped over an ink puddle while you were hurriedly trying to get a breakfast for on the road. Eventually, you calmed him down and finished making your food. You pulled on your shoes while holding your breakfast in your mouth gently and grabbed a jacket off of your table, just in case. It looked cool outside and you didn't want to take any chances. Bendy would probably try giving you his sweatshirt and pull it off before remembering that he was literally a six-foot tall cartoon and that people were usually terrified of him. Currently, the ink demon was sitting criss cross in the floor, debating between wearing his usual black shoes or the pair you bought him.

“We don't have time for that!” You eventually snapped, pulling him up and dragging him out the door. “If you really wanna go, then we gotta go now.”

The door slammed shut behind you and Bendy yelped as he tried tugging on the pair of shoes he managed to salvage. You yanked his hood over his head as he was doing so, then darted away before he could straighten up and retaliate. The temperature was only just a few degrees colder than the norm but you didn't regret bringing a jacket. It looked as if there was a possibility of rain, judging by the smell hanging in the air and the partially obscured sky. A few glittering beams of sunshine peeked out behind the thin gray clouds but blinked out soon after appearing. Bendy finally made his way down your porch once he was done scuffling with his shoes and stalked over to where you had stowed away in your car.

“You hurt my head when you do that,” he grumbled as he slipped into the passenger seat.

“Don't be such a baby,” you teased and jabbed him in the side, pulling out of your driveway. “You have a big head anyway.”

The first half of the drive was spent arguing over the size of the ink demon's head. Buildings roared past you in the window, eventually fading away to a barren highway landscape. Pointing this out to Bendy, you managed to keep him occupied for a while, until he decided that he didn't like cars and humans were disgusting pollutants and that he would much rather try tearing apart your dashboard. You fended him off but not without a price. The ink demon had then found out how the radio works. The last half of the car ride was spent with your eardrums bleeding while Bendy heckled as he established a dictatorship over the volume settings. Two hours. Over two straight hours of being stuck in a car with an ink demon who tried kissing you anytime you so much as glanced in his direction; who made it his personal quest to make you go deaf; who yowled at cars as they passed; who, despite all of his stupid, unsocialized habits, you really, really loved. Maybe this day trip would give Bendy enough incentive to open up about himself. This was only a guess, however, and unimportant at that. What really was important was how you were practically drowning in all of your suppressed memories of the past. Why did you agree to bring Bendy? Was it because you were secretly a complete pushover when it came to him, no matter how spiteful you tended to act?

There wasn't much time to wonder. You had exited the highway long ago were now prowling the streets that you had walked along as a child, rickety structures looming over you. It was one of those towns that had popped up overnight due to the close proximity of the city then was abandoned when everyone realized what a dump it was. You parked by the curb in the desolate downtown area, hoping that your car wouldn't get stolen.

“Come on,” you gestured to Bendy while slinking out. “What do you wanna see first?”

“Um,” the devil answered intelligently, more focused on the old, wornout shops surrounding the two of you than what you were saying.

Sighing, you linked your arm with his and said, “Fine then. Guess I'll just be your guide. I'll take you through the downtown place and then we can walk through my neighborhood after. It sorta leads into this place, so it shouldn't be too far away. I can show you where I pushed one of my old elementary school friends onto the sidewalk and tore up her knees.”

So you showed him around the old ghost town, pointing out important landmarks such as where you threw up on a street corner while trying to stumble back home, piss-ass drunk. It was depressing but admittedly a bit hopeful. You had escaped this place and risen above it. If that didn't prove that Bendy could fix whatever was happening at the studio, you don't know what would. Apparently, the ink demon didn't have the same philosophy, because once you showed him where you had pushed your old friend, he turned to you awkwardly and took in a hissing breath.

“What?” You asked, stuffing your hands into your jacket pockets and pressing against his side.

“I'm sorry I asked you to come here,” he explained, though you were still confused.

“Why?”

“I… I just wanted to see it in person, instead of just in some stupid photos and, I dunno, maybe understand you better, but this? I didn't think it would be like this. I'm sorry.”

Surprisingly, you just laughed, which was even more funny because you had the exact same doubts. “It's fine. I mean, it’s not how you'd usually spend the day after sleeping with someone, but it's fine. I mean, I've seen where you came from plenty of times, it's only fair that you get to see where I came from, right?”

“Right,” he said slowly and uncertainly.

“It's fine. I'm over it. I've been over it. I mean, it still sucks, but that doesn't matter, right? Not like it's happening right now, because when it was happening, I actually did something about it…”

Bendy had the feeling that this was more like a lecture than a reassurance.

“...and after, when I left, I was more lonely than anything. But that's fixed now too.” Your speech was completed with a flickering look up at the ink demon and you repeated once more, “Right?”

A blink answered you. The ink demon was relieved but not entirely happy. Even though you were just trying to offhandedly give him some thinly veiled advice, it only succeeded in making him feel horrible. Noticing this, you stood up on your tiptoes and brushed your lips against his. Before he could deepen the kiss, however, you turned away.

“Okay, so before we go to, uh, my old neighborhood, I'm gonna get food. I'm starving.”

You dragged the now complaining Bendy away to a nearby diner. As you marched along, the first few drops of rain began to fall, though sunshine still managed to leak through the clouds. Not wanting to get soaked when the droplets grew heavier, you darted inside the nearest establishment, Bendy in tow. Few people were inside and a bubbly waitress immediately greeted you and sat you down. Bendy was already having PTSD flashbacks from the first time you took him to the city and this place didn’t look much friendlier. Except for the waitress, of course, who funnily enough reminded him of a certain co-worker of yours. Unlike the ink demon, it didn’t bother you too much, especially because you just so happened to lean over the table and kiss him while in plain sight of her. That definitely quenched her desire for every male who wandered into the restaurant. You weren’t sure if she was entirely warded off, so you resolved to get in and out of there as soon as possible. Plus, Bendy looked like he was using every drop of his willpower to not throw your plate on the floor or spill the salt shakers everywhere.

By the time you left disappointed waitress behind in her rundown diner, the worst of the rain had let up but it still wasn’t a crisp, clear afternoon. That was fine with Bendy, who tilted his head back so far to face the rain that you were afraid his hood would fall off.

“What are you doing?!” You cried, yanking him back.

“I like rain,” he explained with a partially obscured grin.

The deepening sunlight reflected off of his gleaming fangs and the few droplets on his face and you felt your breath catch.

Refraining from either shoving him for being a dork (but a cute dork) or pressing your lips against his hungrily, you breathed, “It’s fine if you like the rain, just try not to show everybody your face.”

“I’m happy that you like the way I look.”

“I do, other people don’t. Sorry to sound like a bit of an ass.”

“Eh. It’s true,” he agreed (with your first statement, of course) and kicked a stray pebble on the sidewalk. “I didn’t really ask to be made, but I think I look great.”

“I guess you do, if you’re being generous,” came your usual dishonest reply. “I’m sorta glad you were made though.”

“Sorta?”

“Yeah, maybe just a little bit.”

Since he knew that was as close you would get to saying you were absolutely ecstatic that a cartoon character had somehow come to life, Bendy laughed and continued blinking up at the receding rain. “So what’re we doing now?”

“Walking through my old neighborhood. We’re almost out of the downtown area and we can spend the rest of the afternoon there. Who knows, maybe I’ll see someone who used to be in my group and we can jump them.”

“Sounds good. You could also distract them while I steal their wallet. That would work.”

Your walk was spent describing the different ways of causing others pain until you were planning full-blown murder. It was slightly unnerving how well Bendy had thoroughly explored the topic beforehand but it wasn’t like he had killed anyone. Yet. With that happy thought in mind, you were whisked down the sidewalk by the ink demon, who seemed to have been reinvigorated by both the discussion and rain. Puddles splashed at your feet, the water dazzled by the late afternoon sun that had grown stronger as some of the cloud coverage dispersed. Bendy tried kicking the water at you a few times with some cackles, until a car came by and drenched him in the floods at the side of the road. Who’s laughing now?

 

 

While the devil was grumbling about getting soaked in the background, the tall, ancient buildings around you faded away to squat houses. You hated how familiar they felt, even if they weren't exactly welcoming. The drizzle started up again as you walked along. Bendy didn't much appreciate the extra dampness but you were fine with it. It was beautiful to see the sheets of water glitter in the sun, unlike the ugly surroundings. The homes were arranged in no clear order as if the builders just decided to go to town on some random piece of land, slapping down some boxes and calling it a day. You would take your small home over these any day but it wasn't like it was built any better; it was just cozier. Nothing like these sad little structures that were growing more and more recognizable. There was the house you first tried weed in. There was the house you had stayed in after running away from your parents. An ache opened up in your chest at the sight as all the memories associated with them came drifting back in focus but you forced them away, sidling up to Bendy.

The ink demon was gazing at the houses with disdain, not yet aware that this was your equivalent of Joey's office or the Ink Machine. So far, the only thing that he was aware of was that this place was a dump. Stray cats occasionally glared over at him from underneath dumpsters or porches and Bendy could feel himself getng more nervous with each glance. It would be utterly embarrassing if they decided to attack him like they usually did and besides, this wasn't the happiest place on earth. Why did he even choose to come here in the first place? Just to feed that nagging curiosity in the back of his head? Resisting the the to pull out the photos stuffed in his pockets, the cartoon lowered his hooded head against the rain and internally complained. Of course it had to rain after he got soaked, of course he was beginning to sympathize with whatever the hell this place was to you, of course he ruined whatever afterglow the two of you had shared with this embarkment. What a dumb decision. Now your mood had taken a dip and he felt like crap because of it. He was _so_ caught up wallowing in his self pity that he didn't even noticed that you had stopped walking to stare at some random home until the arm he had linked around yours was yanked.

Jumping, Bendy turned, then instantly recognized the house he had seen all those times in your photos. The sunset had begun and cast a dark glow across the building, and it looked like it was in a state of disrepair, but it was still recognizable. It was your old house, with a For Sale sign that had never been there before.

"Huh. Guess they moved out not long after I left," you said as nonchalantly as possible when referring to your parents, though Bendy could hear the strangled sound in the back of your throat.

He placed his chin on your shoulder, kept his hidden tail from flicking, and let out a rusty purr. "Well, that's a good thing. Now I don't have to break down the door and show us off. Without my hood, of course."

"You wouldn't."

"I would. I'd drag you around on a leash and show you off to everyone, if I could."

His tactic was working. You broke out into laughter but still didn't look away from the abandoned home. "That's so wrong for so many different reasons."

"But I would."

"I'd rather you not."

"That's okay," he said in a half laugh that faded when he glanced over at the house standing in front of you again. "It's okay."

"I know. Honestly, it's not that bad anymore. Sure, it sucks, but what happened, happened. Or, uh, lack of what happened. Not like it was anything really horrible, anyway."

"That's not true."

"It sorta is. Maybe I was just an attention whore for wanting to be fawned over. Probably was. It doesn't matter now, though, I did something about it and it's over. Hey, that reminds me, do you still have those pictures on you?"

The ink demon immediately scrabbled at his pockets and gushed, "Sure do." The photos were then handed to you with a stupid grin. Bendy probably thought you were going to compare them to the current state of your old house, or give a monologue on them.

Instead, you held them up, gripped them in two hands, then began tearing them straight down the middle.

"Whaddya _doing_?!" Bendy immediately shrieked, frozen in shock. Then another ripping noise sounded and he tried snatching the pictures away from you.

Turning away from the ink devil, you faced the sunset and let the breeze buffet your back with raindrops. "They don't matter anymore," you stated serenely, and with one final slash, they tore apart into either of your hands. You opened your palms and they were swept away by the warm, spring afternoon wind.

Bendy watched them float away in horror. Instead of comforting the ink demon, you laughed, turned back to him, linked arms, and began dragging him away alongside you. "Come on. Let's go home."

He was silent for most of the stroll back until you made it into your car. Then it was like someone set a bomb off underneath him. He threw a literal hissy fit in the seat beside you and demanded to know what your reasoning was, but being reinvigorated with newfound strength and happiness, you told him to shut up and searched for the exit that would lead you out of your past life forever. It was like that one simple action gave you the closure you needed on top of not being so alone or misunderstood anymore. Even Bendy's continuous whining throughout the ride home couldn't put a damper on your spirits.

If only you could recall all your dreams with perfect clarity or see the future.

Still, that didn't matter. Your sudden optimism told you that everything concerning Bendy would turn out okay, just like it did for you. This was the main thing keeping you from strangling him when you made it back home to your messy house, whining demon following close behind. He promptly slipped over an ink puddle upon his entrance. While his screeching began resembling that of a siren, you rolled your eyes and pulled off your shoes.

"I'm going upstairs," you told Bendy over his yowls. "Your bedsheets are gross so I'm not sleeping in there tonight. I'll be in my room, if you wanna come. We'll clean all this up tomorrow and wash your covers."

His shrieking cut off at the threat of having to clean up. Before he could start wailing again over doing chores instead of how much his ass hurt, you darted away, almost falling over the stairs. The ink demon pursued you and actually did trip over a step. You meandered down the hallway upstairs as he landed with a huff, first stopping by his room to pick up your old clothes and put them away. Unlike Bendy, you would set the example and clean up after yourself. You also tried not to glance over at the ink-stained covers and examined the floor in case you missed anything. Nope. Nothing. The only thing that was strewn over the carpet was a very sad looking Bendy doll. You picked up the plush, wondering how it got there, then toted it back to your room after dropping off your dirty clothes in the hamper.

Bendy was already waiting for you and had decided to claim this room as his own, as well. His day clothes lay abandoned in various places across the room and a lump rested underneath your blankets, spade-tipped tail poking out of it. Letting out a growling sigh that you  _knew_ he could hear, you placed the stuffed toy on your dresser, pulled off your own clothes (leaving your undergarments on, of course), then pushed the lump away to make room for yourself. The bed in your room was smaller than the one in the guest room that Bendy had adopted, so you wouldn't deal with he way he starfished, usually taking up most of the space. You also decided that you wouldn't deal with him ruining these sheets. When he pulled you against him and tried nipping at the nape of your neck, you shoved him away again with a snap. The devil huffed and settled for wrapping his tail around one of your legs like he usually did.

"I don't care, anyway," he said in a disgruntled tone that sounded like he really did care about your rejection. "I'm still mad at you for ripping those pictures."

"Why?" You asked, already feeling sleepy against his chest. "They're not important or anything."

"They're important to  _me._ I liked them."

"Well, now you've seen the real thing. Why hang onto something like that?"

"Because I liked them," he repeated stubbornly. "I wanted to keep them."

"And I didn't. And they're my photos. I get the final say." Trying to lighten things up, you tilted your head and gave him a chaste kiss.

It didn't work because he snorted once you pulled away. "Still. I wanted to keep them. Ya didn't have to even bring me there in the first place."

"I thought you wanted to go?"

"Yeah, I did, but... I dunno. You didn't really have fun and the only point was my own stupid curiosity, so... It's sorta like you asking me if we can go to the studio during the week. I'm sorry, or whatever. You shouldn't blame yourself for what other people do to you."

"I know. Why are you sorry for it? Even if it wasn't that fun at first, it made me realize that I'm past it and it doesn't matter. I feel like you really do understand but you shouldn't be sorry."

"I do understand. So, I guess if you're not mad at me, I'm glad you at least agreed to tell me about what happened and then let me see it in person."

"Not what happened. What didn't happened. It was a lack of treatment, nothing outwardly horrible. So it's not that bad."

"It sorta is."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is _not_."

"Is  _too,"_ Bendy laughed, though the conversation just made him feel even worse.

Though you weren't bitter about having to relive your past, he was angry at himself for being awful at communication. Why,  _why_ couldn't he take a leaf out of your book and tell you about the studio, even just a few pieces of information? You deserved to know, especially because you were a bit committed to him now and had opened up about yourself long ago. Besides, he didn't want another incident like Saturday night, now did he? The words refused to come, though. It was somewhat hard to tell someone that you were a religious figure for some crazy animator who just really liked dissecting you every so often. Then again, it was also hard to tell someone your parents were antipathic assholes who let you run around unsupervised and do drugs for attention.

Bendy glanced down to where you were flush against him, almost asleep. Then he looked back at the wall and narrowed his eyes. This wouldn't be so hard, would it?

"Do you wanna hear about the studio?"

"What?" You said, lifting your head and blinking at him blearily.

"Do you want to hear about the studio?" The ink demon repeated.

The question jolted you awake like a bolt of electricity arched down your spine. "You know I do. That's not the problem, though. You're actually gonna tell me?"

"Well, yeah, if you wanna hear it. It's only fair. Besides, I've been meaning to tell you."

"If you're sure."

"I am." The agreement tasted like poison on his tongue.

You met Bendy's stare expectantly as he hesitated, then gave a reassuring blink. He realized that he had sealed his fate, found some motivation to continue, and choked out the first few words of his confession.

"So, y'know how Joey installed the Ink Machine twenty years ago, five years after Henry left..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we've come to this. Six chapters left in this story. In fact, I don't know if anyone has noticed, but you can actually split this story into parts every six chapters. Five parts in total by the end.
> 
> The more you know...
> 
> And we have come to a new part. The final part. How will it end, you ask?
> 
> That is for you to hope.
> 
> Joey to decide.
> 
> Bendy to accept.
> 
> And me to write.
> 
> Thank you for reading thus far. I have to take care of my dog.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	25. Okay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Please, it's not okay!
> 
> Oh, don't you feel your dirty face? Oh, don't it leave that filthy taste?
> 
> When you squeeze that life, untamed.
> 
> Take my hand and let us fall, play with me and pass the ball, take my hand and let us fall.
> 
> I breathe air and sigh. You can't breathe without me.
> 
> (Warning! This chapter is REALLY NSFW...)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys, it's TK, and I'm really, really sorry about the late and not too fascinating update today.
> 
> As well as taking care of my crippled doggo, I've been super sick the past week. Like, horrible. My nose is practically pouring while I write this, too...
> 
> And on top of being sick, I've been having problems with allergies. I've never had allergies before but this year, they practically smacked me upside the head. I actually think I'm allergic to my ferrets, because I got blood drawn last week, and they came up with nothing. They don't test for ferrets, so I wouldn't be able to confirm it 100, but I'm pretty sure I'm allergic to my fur slinkies. Which sucks . _.
> 
> I also passed out after getting my blood drawn, so that was a thing.
> 
> To make things worse, I got my interim today, and... yeesh. I'm pretty sure I'm getting my phone taken away. I'm sorry. I, uh, actually was gonna go take a break for a while, anyway. Winter Break starts tomorrow and lasts until January 2nd, so I was thinking that maybe I could take time to myself and rest for a bit?
> 
> I've actually been having some serious writer's block, which accounts for why this chapter sucks so much. I blame burnout for it. I've been updating, like, 8,000 words every week, and it sorta caught up with me and kicked me in the ass. Again, sorry.
> 
> I just need a break. Two weeks to get over my shitty health, bad grades, and burnout. Only two weeks. Grant me that, please?
> 
> I'm sorry this chapter sucks. It was supposed to be 8,000 words + NSFW, but I just didn't have time. Sorry.
> 
> (EDIT 01/09/18: Added the NSFW part and am working on next chapter while doing some MASS editing to the rest of the fic. Please be patient.)
> 
> Enjoy my crap.

"So, y'know how Joey installed the Ink Machine twenty years ago, five years after Henry left. 'M not exactly what his initial goal was when he installed it, but somehow, he managed to make, um, us... come to life. Well, Boris was the first. I was the second, right after 'im. Alice wasn't made until two years later. There were some minor characters in between that time, too… Anyway, it wasn't real horrible back then, 'n I really don't remember much. Unlike the human stages of development, I was a literal puddle. A sentient. Fucking. Puddle. Wasn't 'til a few months later did I start gettin' an actual shape, but like I said, nothin' horrible happened. Joey would sometimes take small samples of ink from Boris and me, at least, I sorta remember somethin' like that. Boris was the first one to get a, ah, somewhat perfect shape, like the special snowflake he is. I took a few more weeks… Joey was nice enough to us in that time. Taught us how to perform basic functions, walking, talking, whatever. I don't really like how similar that stage of development is to the human version. So, that was all fine, first year of my life spent in utter boredom. Second year sorta was, too. Then Alice came along. And it was still fine, I mean, s'not like she's the Antichrist, but for whatever reason, Joey got a bit more, um, obsessed. Like, more obsessed than actually bringin' your creations to life, which ya'd think is where people like him would draw the line, but nah. He started makin' a book. I think you've seen it before, even if you haven't read it. Called _The Illusion of Living,_ by the alpha cuck himself. Don't read it, by the way.  
  
"Before things got outta hand, it was s'posed to be a documentation of our lives, if you will. But like I said, ya can't really stop Joey once he gets rolling. Sorta like a train... Anyway, he got a bit too curious about how a literal puddle is able to function. At first, he just asked us really simple questions about ourselves. Like, simple as in two three-year-olds and a one-year-old being able to understand it. Do you get hungry? Are you tired? Stuff like that. Sometimes he pulled us aside, took ink samples from us, did a few harmless psychological things. Didn't stay that way for long, though. He jumped a lil' further down the rabbit hole. Started leavin' us alone for days, then came back to see what happened; put us in a cage in this room that was filled to the brim with crates just to see how we'd react and if we managed to escape. I was the only who was able to get out, though. Anyway, for whatever reason, he was still nice to our face. So, being the dumbass kid I was, I just assumed that that was normal for a parent. Joey. A parent. Ha!  
  
"I couldn't really comprehend the fact that some people put on masks to hide their inner crazy. There was somethin' off about the way he treated us like crap but told us we were practically superstars, but like I said, I wasn't exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. Most three-year-olds aren't. So, things went on like that for, oh, I dunno, six or seven years? Joey just did weird ass psychological crap to us. Probably accounts for the reason why Alice is such an unstable pushover. She was only one-year-old when started doing that, not three and more developed like Boris and me. Anyway, it just got worse. Instead of being interested in _how_ we function, he started focusing on _what_ makes us function.  
  
"In other words, I became his science experiment. Dissections, mostly. Sometimes chemistry. Ink is a heterogeneous mixture, made up of a lot of different solutions. There could be bunches of things that react with it. Also considering the fact that it's probably some weird ass black voodoo magic... He used to like pumping us full of water, too. See if we started getting… watered down. And every time I got chemical burns, every time I was cut open, every time I started melting, I came back. Good as new, maybe with some extra scars that would eventually fade away, but still. Just had to add some ink or shove me back through the Ink Machine. Unsurprisingly, that gave Joey another insane idea: immortality. As if he wasn't bonkers enough, torturin' his creations 'n all, he decided that, uh, that… Well, it's pretty weird, but he decided that we were deities. Gods. The Second Coming. Yeah, yeah, it's weird, I know, but what d'you expect from him? I think that when Henry or whatever the hell his name is left, it really did a number on the old cuck. Started having an existential crisis or whatever. I vaguely remember him being really soul-searchy and _weird_ when I was a kid, and I guess it just manifested itself in the form of causing pain to others and finding some solace in a crazy made-up religion. That's my theory, at least.  
  
"Doesn't really justify it, though. Like I said, I sorta kinda assumed that was just how people were. Even when it started to be a real issue and obviously not right, I started thinking that _I_  did something wrong. I was old enough to pay attention to the way other people interacted with each other, and I even taught myself how to read. I stole so many books from so many employees and taught myself... everything. It was a way to distract myself and realize that maybe not everything is shit and that the only problem was Joey.  
  
"And he's still a problem. And that is what happens every night at the studio. You're welcome."  
  
A shocked silence greeted his monologue.  
  
"What."  
  
"(Y/N)--"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Look, (Y/N), I'm still--"  
  
"WHAT!" You shrieked, then began thrashing against the steely grip that Bendy had around your waist, flinging the sheets off the two of you in the process.  
  
The ink demon refrained from squealing at both the sudden cold air and your struggles and tightened his hold. "(Y/N), please--"  
  
"Let go of me! Get off, Bendy! I'll--I'll fucking kill Joey! I--" Your hysteria then descended into incomprehensible howling, deafening him.  
  
Bendy tried forcing out a hoarse purr over your shrieks like the last time you had a breakdown over him but found that he was unable to. Instead, the devil tried shushing you. This was also unsuccessful. You began clawing at his arms while spitting furiously, most of which were threats to Joey and snapping at Bendy for refusing to let go of you. Still, his resolve held and he readjusted his iron grip to place a hand over your mouth, stifling your screeches but not your fury. In fact, it only seemed to fuel your rage. You continued letting out muffled screams and even tried biting his palm but it was to no avail. He kept shushing you, holding you against his chest with one arm still wrapped around your waist. A small hint of disgust twisted his features when you started slobbering over his bare palm but he didn't budge and continued his attempts to calm you down.  
  
The previous screeching faded away into small, hoarse keens, and a hot liquid begin to drip down the ink demon's hand. At first, he thought it was you slavering on him again until he realized it was dripping over the back of his hand, in small rivulets.  Not saliva. Tears.  
  
Of course, you had to be crying.  
  
"Ya promise not to start screaming?" He said in your ear, breath cool and tone eerily calm.  
  
You nodded.  
  
"And ya promise you won't leave?"  
  
You nodded again, this time with a choked sob.  
  
Bendy sighed, loosened the arm around your waist, then pulled his dripping hand away from your mouth. A few hoarse wheezes escaped you as you shuddered and relaxed your tensed shoulders. With a sour expression that he hid from you, Bendy wiped his soaked hand over the bed sheets to clean it, then replaced his grip on your hips.  
  
He continued holding your shivering self against him and began internally cursing himself. His confession was the complete opposite of tact. Surely, there could have been a better way to admit he was supposed to be a literal god but your reaction didn't really help much, either. Tremors wracked your body, making you look small and vulnerable aside the stoic cartoon demon, who had rolled you over so that you now faced him. A few hot tears leaked silently down your shocked, blank face. The sight of this hurt Bendy more than anything Joey could do to him.  
  
"I... I'm sorry for asking you to tell me," you suddenly croaked, also hating the way you had reacted. Now you both felt like shit.  
  
"Why're ya sorry?" The ink demon grumbled against your forehead as he pressed his lips to the feverish skin. "It's fine. You sorta had the right to know, anyway. I got to actually see what happened to you; it's only fair that I at least tell you what's happened to me."  
  
"That's not how it works, no, it's not fine, it just..." It just makes so much sense.  
  
The reason why Bendy hated Joey, why Alice had a mental breakdown when Susie left, why your neighbors had disappeared, why Joey spent his nights at the studio, why Bendy was obsessed with attention, why Boris was so mournful all the time, why why why. There could be so many other things that could be explained by this sudden enlightenment but your exhausted mind couldn't even begin to comprehend it. However outlandish his confession was, it made so much sense and you hated it.  
  
Realizing the meaning behind your weak protests, Bendy insisted, "It's fine, I mean, you asking, not what--what happened. That's not fine and I realize that. I just... I never actually came to terms with what was happening until I got older. Much older. Like, teenage older. At that point, I'd been in denial for a pretty long time. Tried all these different things to distract myself, came up with all these conspiracy theories to explain Joey, did all this stupid stuff, but none of it worked. You understand that. I told you that you shouldn't blame yourself, which is right, but... For the longest time, I wondered what I had done to deserve something like this. It practically ate me alive. Now I know that it's Joey who's in the wrong and that I haven't done anything. I also know that the world is a shitty place, except for probably... probably this. And you. But you deserve to know. But what do I deserve?"  
  
You looked over, perhaps to give him a few reassuring sniffles or slap some sense to him--and saw streaks of jet-black trailing down his cheeks as he stared up at the ceiling. A sudden jolt went through you at the sight. He was crying. The bane of Joey Drew Studios, the cause of all your past suffering, was now silently weeping beside you.  
  
Even more surprising than the idea of Bendy being able to cry was the realization that he had never actually done it in front of you. It made you as clueless as the ink demon usually did when it came to emotions. Without having anything better to do, you simply pressed your face into the crook of his neck and forced back the heat once again pooling behind your own eyes. It may not have been the smartest move to have a breakdown earlier but you could make up for that, eventually. You were simply in shock. What kind of person did that to their creations, who, despite all the enmity between them, saw him as a sort of twisted father figure? For all the hatred Bendy preferred to display for Joey, you couldn't help but remember the little speech he gave all those weeks ago about your parents.  
  
_“...learn how to be a damn fa--parent. A parent.”_  
  
Father. He had meant to say father.  
  
All the other pieces of the puzzle began falling into place, even those from the beginning of your story.  
  
_"Joey will listen to me if I speak up.”_  
  
Of course he would, he saw him as a Christ figure.  
  
_...a room down the opposite hallway where Boris stood, scrutinizing a metal table suspiciously._  
  
No wonder he was so estranged by the table. It must be where Joey performed most of his experiments.  
  
_"Of course not, my--"_  
  
My Lord. That was what he meant. And that was why Bendy interrupted him.  
  
This had been going down right under your nose the entire time and you were _oblivious_ .  
  
That was it. You deteriorated again and began blubbering something about Joey, eventually freezing up in Bendy’s arms from the shock. Bendy sighed, covertly wiped the smears of ink off of his cheeks, and coiled himself around you. The covers still laid abandoned on the floor, so the ink demon reached one long, skinny arm over you and plucked them off the ground. They rustled noisily and a few feathers floated through the dingy air as he replaced the sheets over the two of you and smoothed them out.  
  
“I’m sorry,” you finally wheezed, which was a loaded statement if he ever heard one. Sorry for what now? Joey? Your reaction? Badgering him about the studio in the first place?  
  
“S'fine,” Bendy grumbled back, same as before, and tugged the blanket over his mouth, smothering you in the process.  
  
You eventually resurfaced for some air, watery eyes dull in the darkness. You didn’t argue with the ink demon. Instead, you slowed your breathing down to match his unnaturally sluggish rate and rested, numb, against him once he resumed staring up at the heavens as if he was asking an unknown deity for answers. If only you had answers for him. Despite his insistence, you weren’t sure if you actually did understand. Sure, your parents weren’t the greatest, but they also didn’t dissect you for the sake of some insane cult. Trying to fathom the idea of someone you love constantly being abused made your mind more tired than ever, so you simply shut your weary optics and waited for your cheeks to dry. At least, the cheek that wasn’t pressed against Bendy’s chest. As your wild thoughts began fading away in preparation for slumber, you could hear a dull thump resonate throughout the cartoon’s body.  
  
It was a heartbeat. It was inhumanly slow, languid, and off tempo, but it was there, nonetheless.  
  
The sound was comforting.  
  
Bendy finally let out a single dry purr, curling his tail in its usual place around your ankle and murmuring, “I love you.”  
  
You mewled a response into his shoulder, most likely an “I love you, too,” but we can't be too sure. Perhaps you were cursing Joey Drew under your breath.  
  
Either way, the dull heartbeat continued on, conciliatory as your last conscious thoughts drifted away. The last thing you saw was Bendy staring at the ceiling with flickering optics before you drifted away into a fitful slumber.

* * *

Morning came the moment you shut your eyes. It felt as if you hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, yet you peeked open your encrusted eyes and immediately narrowed them against the faint sunlight. Despite having no memories of any nightmares, you were twisted in an awkward position while your throat felt raw. Unsurprisingly, the sheets at your side were unoccupied. They were cold and abandoned, implicitly telling you that Bendy had once again taken advantage of his lack of need for sleep. Thinking about the ink demon sent a pang through your heart as you began recalling last night, so before you could have any time to mope properly, you dragged yourself out of your warm, cozy blanket prison, (more or less) ready to start the day.  
  
Instead of immediately seeking out Bendy like you wanted to, you assured yourself that he was probably lurking about for one reason or another and that he might need some solitude for the time being. The thought didn't keep you from rushing through your morning habits, though. The longer you were alone, the more anxious you felt, and you knew it was silly to worry but you couldn't help it. It was a typical momma bear response. While it may not have been healthy to give yourself a panic attack while brushing your teeth, it sure as hell was an improvement from last night. Dissolving into tears at his side... Why do that when you can just chase away anyone who so much as looks at him?  
  
With the pleasing idea of you chasing away Joey Drew, you finished up in the bathroom and returned to your empty room to pick out a fresh pair of clothes. Even though Bendy had confessed to being a practical science experiment, you were still planning on cleaning the house today. It would be a good distraction. Besides, once you finished cleaning, you would then have the entire rest of the day to do whatever you want with Bendy. If he wanted to, of course. And if you wanted to. There had to be mutual want. At the moment, you weren't too sure of how you felt. Your usual sense of calm numbness in the face of fear had returned with more intensity than ever but you knew it was only a matter of time before you shattered again.  
  
By now, you had donned a ratty outfit, suitable for some dirty work around the house. Not wanting to hang around until you had another anxiety attack, you pranced out of your room and down the stairs, eager to see what Bendy was up to. Hopefully last night didn't affect him too badly. It would break your heart if he was still upset. Then again, it was already heartbreaking, what with Joey Drew and all. The thought made your indifferent mask falter with hot rage but you stifled your oncoming fit as you made your way down the last few steps.  
  
You looked over the railing and...  
  
There was Bendy.  
  
The sight of him took your breath away, and not in the good way.  
  
He sat curled up on the couch, blankly staring at a fixed point in the distance with his arms wrapped around his sides, as if he was cold. His tail, which usually flicked back and forth no matter what, was now draped over the couch, limp. You hopped off the last step, slunk a few paces down the hall, then paused before entering the room to give him some time to notice you. The ink demon continued gazing at the distance for a few more moments before catching you in his peripheral vision.  
  
Turning to blink at you blearily, he croaked, “Heya,” then huddled further into the corner of the sofa.  
  
“Hi,” you replied uncertainty and made your way over to his side. “You didn't sleep again.”  
  
“I know,” he said in the form of a gusty sigh, surveying your approach. “I don’t need sleep, though.”  
  
Slumping down beside Bendy, you asked, “You sure about that? Don’t you think that you’ve sorta gotten used to it?”  
  
A snort answered you. “Yes, I’m sure; no, I haven’t. I’m not made of nasty organic stuff.... carbon life forms… definitely don’t need it...” He trailed off, saying something about melatonin as he started slumping over the arm of the couch.  
  
You rolled your eyes at this and prodded his arm. “Ben’? Bendy. Bendy, come on, really, you’re gonna suffocate yourself.”  
  
HIs grumbling faded away into growls. If he had fallen asleep after claiming he didn’t need it...  
  
“Bendy!” You hissed and began clambering over him when your poking didn’t work.  
  
“Twenty amino acids!” Exclaimed Bendy as he jumped up and nearly fell off the sofa. Then, gaining his bearings, he remembered exactly where he was and pushed you off of him.  
  
You scrambled back over to him after being flung to the other side of the sofa and said, “Are you tired?”  
  
“No,” the ink demon groaned, trying to shove you away as you once more began clinging to his side. “I’m not, (Y/N), get off.”  
  
Refusing to budge, you looked up at him and asked, “Are you okay?”  
  
“Yeah,” he reassured you and continued on with a grin, “just tired.”  
  
“Oh my god,” you said in annoyance, then internally cringed. God. Maybe you shouldn’t use that term around Bendy anymore.  
  
It didn’t seem to bother him, however, because he just purred and let his tail begin swaying again. “I’m fine. Just thinking.”  
  
“About?”  
  
“Joey.”  
  
“You spent all night giving thought to someone who doesn’t deserve it instead of being with me.”  
  
“No, that’s not all I did. I read, too.”  
  
“Read what?”  
  
“Those three books.” He flicked his tail over to the end table, where a stack of books lay abandoned. “They weren’t great.”  
  
“You read three books in one night?”  
  
“I’m a fast reader.”  
  
“That’s fine, but… but you are okay, right?”  
  
“I’m fine.”  
  
“You say that, but--”  
  
“(Y/N),” Bendy cut you off and you weren’t sure if he sounded annoyed or amused by your concern. “I’m fine. I told you about Joey. So what? Not like I'm gonna have a meltdown all the sudden. I'm still me.”  
  
“I know, but--”  
  
“No. It’s fine. Not like I’m asking ya to do anything about it. I got it handled. So, what’re we doing today?”  
  
You opened your mouth to start angrily protesting against his nonchalance, then paused, obviously thinking the better of it. If you said anything now, when Bendy was clearly trying to change the subject, you wouldn't get anywhere with him later on. He would do his usual hurtful routine of freezing up and snapping at you (another thing that was caused by Joey, you bet). So for now, you blinked at him, promised that you would throw Joey out a window, then told him to start helping you clean up his mess.  The ink demon immediately began complaining but stood up to follow you out of the room and help, nonetheless.  
  
To start off your spring cleaning, you pulled a hardly ever used vacuum out of a closet down the hall and ordered Bendy to start wiping up the ink he left all over your dining room. Bendy had already begun dabbing at the ink puddles by the time you untangled the power cord to the vacuum. He jumped when you plugged it in and started it with a roar. Trying not to laugh at how he then shied away from the machine, you grabbed the handle, and got to work.  
  
The longer you had time to yourself and the further you delved into your thoughts, the angrier you became. Even though you had acted somewhat normal around Bendy this morning, it was unbelievable to think that he was subject to such abuse, forced upon him by Joey, no less. Joey had seemed so friendly. A bit off, maybe with some quirks, but plenty normal. It was also amazing how you accepted this revelation as truth the moment Bendy told you. You weren't calling him a liar or anything of the sort, but like you had marveled before, your feelings for him had changed drastically. Then again, maybe you had always subconsciously known that there was something wrong with Joey. Also taking into account the fact that you had always had a soft spot for your favorite cartoon.... Either way, you were sure to do something about it. In the meantime, you were also perfectly content to press yourself against Bendy's side once you finished vacuuming and help him finish tidying up the dining room before going upstairs to strip your bedsheets.  
  
When that was done (with much awkwardness, considering how it was impossible not to stare at the jet-black stains Bendy had left behind), you did a few more searches around the house with a spray bottle and duster. Bendy followed close behind. Sometimes he would point random shadows out to you, thinking that it was a stain; other times, he tried jumping on your back or pinning you to the wall. In other words, the ink demon was no help whatsoever.  
  
You sensed his lack of usefulness and snapped at him, receiving a cheeky grin in return. Then, with a sigh, you sent him downstairs to the basement to where he put his horns through the wall so he could wait for you while you finished up doing some spot cleaning. He grumbled at the sudden dismissal, tried kissing you one last time (you pushed him away when he tried forcing his tongue down your throat), then trotted down the basement steps. You watched his retreat with an internal sigh, a complicated one, at that. It was mournful, angry, and longing at the same time. Turning away from where he disappeared, you scampered on as the bane of stains everywhere.  
  
There weren't many stains in sight, so you soon joined Bendy downstairs.

"But why do I have to," he whined the moment you set foot in the unfinished part of your basement with him.  
  
"Because you're the one who ruined it in the first place and it wouldn't hurt to know how to anyway," you retorted, then began sniffing around for the plaster.  
  
"But I don't wanna."  
  
"Cute. Now go sit there and wait for me while I get the stuff to fix that damn hole."  
  
With a large amount of grumbling and huffing, Bendy complied, however grudgingly it had been done. You half-grinned to yourself and continued seeking out the necessary tools for the job.  
  
A few minutes later, you made your way back over to the ink demon who had his tail lashing angrily beside him as he sat crisscross by the hole he put in your wall.  
  
You gritted teeth as you dragged in a tub of plaster and a few various tools the cartoon couldn't name. He immediately stood up to help you, despite really not wanting to do actual work. With a grateful look, you gave him broken smile and began explaining exactly what he was to do.  
  
In all honesty it went in one ear and out the other. He was still disgruntled from last night but _this_ on top of it? He would really rather not. Sadly, the ink demon didn't have much of a choice in the matter, seeing as you told him to start working while you hauled yourself onto the table where you folded laundry and pulled out a book to spend your time reading, since the dryer was still running with your bedsheets and there wasn't much else to do. This was Bendy's job. You couldn't start babying him, however much you wanted to.  
  
Luckily, a brilliant idea came to Bendy’s mind not long after.  
  
Was he really expected to do a good job on this? The answer was no. And so the ink demon did a purposeful shit job.  
  
When his hands were thoroughly coated with plaster (along with his horns and pants, though he wasn't quite sure how the substance ended up in those areas), Bendy looked up at you wide and innocent eyes and said, "I'm done."  
  
You looked up from your book.  
  
"That is nowhere near done."  
  
"It is though. What, ya thought I was gonna make it perfect? You didn't even help me."  
  
"Because I wanted you to--oh my god. You did a crap job on purpose."  
  
"I did not," he snorted as if the idea was preposterous and rose from the floor, stepping cautiously over globs of plaster that made their way onto the surface.  
  
At his approach, you glared at the ink demon and said, "No."  
  
"No what?"  
  
"I know what you're trying to do, no."  
  
A laugh answered you and Bendy put his caked hands on either side of you, grinning stupidly. "What am I trying to do."  
  
"Get off of me."  
  
"You're no fun," he stated and leaned forwards.  
  
Much to his amusement, the ink demon saw your face darken slightly in spite of your spitting.  
  
"You're supposed to be fixing the wall, not having fun."  
  
"Am I?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Oops," he whispered and closed what little gap there was betweens the two of you.  
  
A soft sigh from out of your nose greeted him and you wrapped your legs around his waist, immediately melting into the touch. Bendy rolled his half-lidded eyes before shutting them entirely while running his dusty hands up your sides. His mouth opened slightly and you traced your tongue over his while stifling a groan at his hips sliding against yours. The ink demon kept himself from rolling his eyes again and pressed himself further against you. For all of your venom, you really did want this just as badly as he did, but it wasn't deterring him. There was some strange enjoyment in being constantly shot down. Instead of being told he was the greatest thing on earth and treated like crap, he was being told he was crap but treated like the greatest. It was a nice change. Maybe that was why he liked you so much. Besides, he also enjoyed the ulterior motive of spreading plaster all over your sides. Getting a bit too ambitious, he reached his hands up to your face in an attempt to further spread the mess he had made over you.  
  
That was about when you noticed his self-imposed task. You shoved Bendy off  f you before he could put plaster on your cheeks, looked down, then gave a noise that was somewhere between a snarl and a screech.  
  
"You did that on purpose!"  
  
"I forgot my hands were dirty."  
  
"Your _everything_ is dirty. How did you get it on your horns?"  
  
"I dunno."  
  
"Whatever. I don't feel like getting you to properly fix the wall, so we're gonna have to take showers, and I am not taking one with you so you can stop making that face at me," you snapped hurriedly at the enormous grin spreading across his face.  
  
"Then what's the point?"  
  
"The point is that I'm not talking to you until you take that crap off of your hands. Come on, you can take a shower first, and with luck maybe you'll melt because of the water."

Perhaps you shouldn't have been so mean, considering how he had acted that morning, but you were weary from a day of doing nothing but cleaning. Besides, Bendy seemed to enjoy it. He laughed all the way upstairs, eventually silencing himself when he tripped over his tail for the umpteenth time. Hopefully he didn't get plaster all over the steps. Suppressing a giggle at the shriek he let out, you disappeared into your room to pick out a fresh pair of clothes since Bendy got plaster all over the ones you had on. The ink demon tried following you in but you pushed him away by his horns, spreading fresh gunk over your hands in the process. You wouldn't be able to pick anything without dirtying your outfit of choice with the disgusting goo. Admitting defeat, you kicked your dresser closed, then slunk out of your room. Bendy promptly leaped onto your back at your appearance. 

You stifled a squeak, pushed him off before he could knock you over, then remarked, “You're in a better mood.”

The devil tumbled to the floor with a huff and jumped back up. “I was just tired.”

“Are you sure?” 

“Yup.”

“Alright. I… I'm not gonna say sorry again, ‘cause I mean, I guess I’m not the one who did anything like… What I mean is that I'm not Joey, and I know you hate it when I say sorry, but...” You trailed off, watching Bendy’s face turn a sickly, pale gray, then hurried on. “Look, I also know you don't like talking about it, or talking about anything, for that matter, but I was thinking--”

“Wait. Hold that thought for later,” he interrupted you, trying to force a half grin onto his face. “Take a shower with me?”

“I already told you _no_ ,” you snapped, disgruntled over being cut off in the middle of something important. “I won't.” 

Whining loudly, Bendy backed you up against the wall, rested his chin on your shoulder, and said, “Please? Why not? I'm bored and you’ve just been cleaning all day. Plus, what if I really do melt?”

“You're not gonna melt, however much I want you to,” you grumbled, though you weren't pushing him off. This probably explained why he felt encouraged and tried bucking his hips forward.

“Stop that!” You hissed at him. “Fine, I will, just go get a change of clothes and I'll talk to you later. Plus, we still have to get the bedsheets out of the dryer after, because I'm not letting you in my room again. You take up the entire bed, and it's _tiny_. You leave no room for me.”

Even though you spoke in an unamused mutter, the cartoon devil crooned, tried smearing more plaster over you, then darted away chortling when you spat and cuffed one of his horns at the attempt.  You followed after him with a guttural sigh that you didn't really mean and waited in the bathroom while he tore apart his drawers for extra pants. In the time being, you shut your eyes, sunk down against the cool tile, and wondered what you had gotten yourself into, as well as what you had yet to do. While cleaning up and watching Bendy plaster the wall earlier, you had come up with a skeleton of a plan and a few choice words for Joey. The former was the more important of the two, however.

You sighed again. There would be time to plot later. For now, you lay the idea to rest, then stood up to start stripping down while Bendy ransacked his dresser in the other room. Your dusty clothes fell to ground with a thump and a white cloud of dried plaster wafted up from the pile. You waved the particles away, covering your mouth as to not inhale any. When the dust settled, you nudged your clothes into an undisturbed corner and padded over to the shower. You hastily ducked behind the curtain to turn the shower on. A squeal rang out as you twisted the knob, followed by the familiar sound of running water. Steam began rising from the jets soon afterwards. Satisfied, you turned away from the tub, arms wrapped over yourself to keep out the cold.  
  
Besides, there was now a loudly purring presence standing by the wall where your towel rack hung.  
  
"Heya," Bendy said between croons. In his hands was an extra pair of pants to put on after showering. Plaster coated his, well, everything.  
  
"Hi," you replied flatly at the sight, skirting around your discarded clothes as you made your way over to him, still hugging yourself.  
  
Bendy did not seem to like the way you were covering your body. The moment you stopped to stand in front of him, he gave you a sour look, peeled your arms away from your chest, threaded his fingers through yours, and raised your hands over his head. A thin sheen of ink dripped down his front side and horns, and you didn't have to look down to confirm that he found his jeans extremely uncomfortable at the moment. The ink demon let out a few more rumbling purrs as he pulled you flush to him. It was a challenge to keep from groaning when he shifted you, even more so when your bare chest pressed against his. Your nipples brushed over his inky skin and you accidentally let out squeak at the touch. A hot bolt went down Bendy's spine at the sight of your wide-eyed self, biting your lip and staring up at him. The bite marks he had left on you a few days ago marred the skin on your shoulders, though it was gradually fading away. Suppressing the sudden, possessive urge to flip over so that you would be the one pinned to the wall or backing you up against the bathroom counter, the devil stooped down to your height and cooed while nipping gently at your sensitive neck.  
  
You giggled weakly to release some of your tension and tilted your head to the side so Bendy could continue grazing his fangs over your exposed jugular. Showing off something so vulnerable made your skin prickle, though not in a bad way. Especially not when you decided to return the treatment and began ghosting your hands down the cartoon's chest to rest them above the waistband of his jeans.  
  
Bendy's eyes narrowed once he realized what you were doing. He flickered his tongue across your neck, gave the area a slight suck, then pulled away with a wet pop so he could now focus on your lips. The touch started out surprisingly tender and soft, though it didn't stay that way for long once you dipped one hand below his belt. The ink demon's cock immediately twitched at the pressure. A choked noise escaped him and he flickered his tongue over your lips, asking for entrance. You complied with a dreamy sigh out of your nose and opened your own mouth while wrapping your hand around his length. Bendy slid his long, forked tongue over yours with a faint huff, moving his hands down from your hips to your bare thighs, propping one leg up onto the wall at his side. A soft moan slipped out of you and into his mouth at the feeling of your skin sliding over the fabric of his stained, dusty jeans.  
  
You showed your growing pleasure by slowly moving the hand you had down his pants back and forth. Bendy growled, breaking away from you to toss his head back and huff while you continued rubbing him down.  
  
"Are you really sure you're not gonna melt?" You teased quietly as you referred to the ink running down his chest, similar to sweat.  
  
"Positive," he breathed back and pulled your other leg up, forcing you to rely on him for support. "Actually, I could ask ya the same thing."  
  
You gave him the best funny look you could while jerking him off. "I'm not the one made out of i-ink!" Your voice suddenly rose at the end from the feeling of something sliding between your thighs. It wasn't his hand, because he was still carrying you; and definitely not his dick, because that was currently in your possession.  
  
No. It was that damn tail of his.  
  
More squeals tumbled out of you before you could regain your bearings. A hoarse laugh sounded in your ear before it turned into a grunt as Bendy worked his hips forward against your hand and applied more pressure to you with his tail. The thin, whip-like appendage slid between your parted thighs, all the way up to spade tip before Bendy pulled it away. Chills went up your spine at the brief sensation of the sharp point at the end of his tail scratching at you.  
  
Quickly trying to pull yourself together, you removed your hand from where it was squeezing at the base of Bendy's length and swatted his hands off of you. The ink demon grudgingly set you down, though not without another swipe of his tail over you. You swallowed a groan and looked up at where he was grinning at you hazily. An even darker colored blush stained your cheeks when you broke the stare to glance down at the bulge in his pants, which was as massive as ever.  
  
"Take these off," you told him in a quiet voice while fingering the waistband of his jeans, placing a quick peck on his lips. "Then you can follow me."  
  
And before Bendy could retaliate, you giggled, pulled away from him, then dove behind the shower curtains. Listening to the frustrated snarls the cartoon let out in your absence, you stifled your laughs and hastily scrubbed yourself down. If you guessed correctly, then there wouldn't be much time for cleaning yourself once Bendy joined you. Apart from your need to have a nice evening with Bendy after an exhausting day (most of which you decided to conveniently forget for the time being), you also really did have to wash off.  
  
Plaster rubbed off you in sloughs. It was sucked down the drain quite noisily, making you wonder if it would clog the pipes. If so, then you blamed Bendy. Speaking of the ink demon, you reckoned he had had plenty of time to tug his jeans off by now. You were both grateful and annoyed by the delay. On one hand, you had more time to actually shower, on the other, you could no longer ignore the hot burn between your thighs. What a dilemma. After a few moments of silence, punctuated by the sound of water running, you could clearly hear the devil purring softly just beyond the shower curtains.  
  
Shutting your eyes, you huddled underneath the jets of warm water, wrapped your arms around yourself, and called out mildly, "Bendy, what are you doing." As if you really had to wonder.  
  
The croons abruptly stopped, then started again. "Nothing," the ink demon said as he finally stepped into the shower with you, a hint of laughter in his tone.  
  
"Jerking yourself off when I'm literally right here isn't nothing," you retorted in a sigh and opened your eyes to see Bendy sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck while he grinned at you.  
  
"What?" He said in response to your blank stare, trying to make it seem like he was innocent. "C'mon, I wasn't doing anything."  
  
"Of course you weren't," you said absently and took a step toward him, then reached a hand up to pick at the gunk on his horns.  
  
Bendy stifled a shudder at the feeling of your wet body flush to him, especially with how his length was poking against your abdomen. Instead of pursuing the nagging ache that was haunting you both, you continued peeling off sheets of plaster from the cartoon, humming as you did so. You were perfectly content to have an excuse to wrap your hands around his horns when since he was usually annoyed by you doing so. Even when you had removed all the goo from his horns, you continued tugging on them, pressing a thumb over the wickedly sharp point, yanking on them in opposite directions as if you meant to pull them apart, even tracing a finger over the u-shaped valley between the two hooked curves. Bendy's eyes immediately lidded over at this certain touch and a rumbling noise came from the back of his throat. Then, realizing what he had done, the ink demon snapped his eyes open, swatted your hand away, and hissed, "Stop that."  
  
You laughed at his attempt to cover up how much he enjoyed getting pet between his horns and huddled up close to him in an embrace, saying, "I love you."  
  
"I love you, too," he grumbled back bad-temperedly, thinking he probably should have stayed outside of the shower instead of coming in here with you to be treated like some kind of pet.  
  
Another bout of laughter answered Bendy. When you had finished giggling over his less than pleased reply,  you nuzzled him one last time before bringing your hands up to splay over his chest. The ink demon looked down to where you were silently biting your lip and staring at him with doe-eyes. A brief smirk flitted across his face now that the tables had turned and he forced you back a step, underneath the hot water pouring from the showerhead. The water mingled with the sheets of ink dripping over his body and turned the liquid at your feet into a diluted shade of black. A few chunks of plaster mingled with the watery ink before getting sucked down the drain.  
  
You could do nothing but stand frozen under the showerhead and watch as the demon fixated you with a hungry look, pulling you against him and catching your mouth with his own, growling under his breath. You were then forced back into the same position as before, Bendy leaning back on the wall with you were draped over him. His tail slid up between your thighs again. Not wanting to get reduced to a quivering mess like before, you refocused your sights upon the thick length curving against your stomach by breaking off the kiss and glancing down. It looked like Bendy's earlier embarrassment did nothing to affect him. His cock was as rigid as ever and a few beads of ink welled on the tip. Water made it glisten strangely. Bendy followed your gaze with a coo, then looked back up at you, an eyebrow raised. You gently cupped him in your hand at his insistence, then licked you lips at the thought of what you were planning to do next.  
  
After another deep, frantic kiss and some more jerky motions on your part, you began traced your tongue over the ink demon's collarbone like he had done to you so many times before. A soft, muffled moan from Bendy encouraged you to carry on. You then brought both of your hands up to trace the contours over his chest, trying not to imagine the many dissections he had received and ruin the moment. You dipped your head lower, placing small kisses over him as you went down, down, down, until his jet-black length curved right in front of your face. Looking up, you could see Bendy watching you, fingertips twitching and mouth slightly parted. His chest heaved. You tore your gaze away from his intense stare to gape at his cock. It was one thing to see it in moonlit darkness. It was another to be right in front of it in full brightness. As you had established before, he was huge. It honestly was the only part of him that wasn't ridiculously skinny. Agreeing with your point, Bendy's cock twitched at your proximity. You blushed darkly and began blowing cool air onto him as you squeezed the base of his length. A grunt sounded above you and Bendy threaded his thin fingers through your wet hair, anticipating the feeling of warmth around his cock. You complied soon enough, thankfully.  
  
When you had enough of simply rubbing at him, you took in a deep, calming, breath, then slid your tongue along the underside of the cartoon. Faint pants rang out over the sound of water falling. You gave Bendy a few more teasing laps, savoring the taste and the sound, then, after a particularly slow lick over his tip, took him in your mouth. He groaned and arched his back, pushing himself further in. You took the extra inch with ease and silently thanked no one in particular that you had given a blow job once before to some random boyfriend of yours in high school. Unlike that one time, however, you were giving it to someone you actually liked. Even if he just happened to be a literal cartoon demon.  
  
You sank down as far as you could on Bendy without gagging and glanced up to catch a glimpse of his expression. The devil had his head tossed back, horns clacking against the tile wall of the shower and teeth bared. Sensing your stare, the ink demon hissed and looked down. His optics flickered into jet-black hearts when he saw you.  
  
That's new, you thought nervously, then hollowed out your cheeks and sucked on him.  
  
“Fuck,” Bendy panted and arched his back even further, both hands holding the back of your head. “(Y/N), babe, toots, hngh, fuck…”  
  
He forced himself all the way into the hilt, making you gag. Your eyes stung as the faint, harsh taste of ink hit the back of your throat but the ink demon took no notice. Instead, he began bucking his hips, tail lashing as it draped over one of your shoulders. More hoarse growls rang out. His fingers, already braided into your hair, yanked at your head along with his thrusts. A demon with goddamn heart eyes was literally facefucking you and you were going along with it, giving him long, deep sucks and occasionally swirling your tongue over him. Eventually, it became too much to bear. Bendy pulled you off him with a loud pop and dragged you up to his face by your soaked hair. His lip was curled and cheeks dark gray. The heart eyes disappeared after some rapid blinks.  
  
You couldn’t manage anything but a wide-eyed gawk as he rumbled and gingerly swiped a splatter of ink off of your cheek. Calming down enough to manage a soft purr, Bendy held both sides of your face and pressed his lips against yours, which now tasted like ink. His trembling tail curled between your thighs again, coaxing a moan out of you. He crooned at your reaction and, after briefly tracing his fingers over you alongside his tail, picked you back up into his arms. He pulled his tail away and you could now feel the tip of his slick length pressing against you.  
  
Noticing the way you tensed at the feeling, Bendy pressed his cheek against yours and crooned in your ear, “C'mon, babe, it feels better the second time. I dunno why y’always freak yourself out.”  
  
“I do not,” you hissed at him while freaking yourself out.  
  
“Sure, ya don't,” he soothed unconvincingly, silencing your protests by curling himself around you so that it was hard to tell where either of you began and ended. It was even harder to tell when he whispered an "I love you" and pulled you down over himself, rocking his hips forward.  
  
You immediately groaned and slumped against his chest at being spread. The pain you had expected never came. Your shoulders loosened. Bendy rolled his eyes, though it was ineffective with the dark gray over his face, and latched back onto your shoulder. It was alarming how quickly things escalated after that. The moment you realized that this wouldn't be nearly as painful as last time was, you began squirming in his grip, forcing him to dig his fingers in your thighs to keep you from slipping away from him. Along with his hold on you tightening, the ink demon sank his fangs into your shoulder, placing fresh marks over those that had faded. Harsh slaps sounded from the water that slicked both of your bodies and reverberated throughout the shower. However, same as before, you could hardly care. Your main concern was Bendy, who was desperately trying not to slip and fall into the tub while picking up the pace. You weren't really helping this conundrum with the way you were shaking and calling out his name and trying to offer him an open mouthed kiss.  
  
Gritting his teeth, Bendy gave a guttural groan and pulled his head away from where he was nipping at your neck. You immediately grabbed his horns and pulled his face towards yours. He met you with a whine, still trying to find some balance while bucking up against you. His back slid down the wall while you pressed yourself further against him. Desperation permeated your body along with a hot, trickling sensation, and it wasn't the water. You needed this. Every cry, slap, and moan, you needed it so bad and Bendy did, too.  
  
Perhaps even more than you did.  
  
Pulling away after thoroughly searching your mouth, the cartoon gave a few more sharp thrusts, then pulled out. You were left whining into the crook of his neck before he flipped you over so fast you didn't know what was happening until you were the one pinned against the wall and Bendy snarled in your face. You chanced the best awkward half smile you could, seeing as you were forcibly pressed to the wall, face dark red. The intense glare that he had fixated you with melted and the ink devil cooed as he winded himself around you, hands now free; at least, for the most part. Thin fingers danced underneath your chin, over your chest, and between your thighs, making you gasp and squeak. He hummed against your shoulder in appreciation of the noises you were emitting and removed his finger from where he had briefly slipped it inside of you. You moaned at the short touch then were quickly hushed; over your complaints and the rushing water, Bendy purred, "I love you."  
  
You placed a hand over the one he had holding your cheek and shut your eyes, heart swelling. "I love you, too."  
  
The croons increased and the ink demon began tracing a thumb over your bottom lip. Your optics fluttered open at the gentle touch and you were greeted by Bendy's hot gray face and wide, glittering cartoon eyes. At the sight of you, Bendy lidded his optics over, leaning into you and letting out a noise between a growl and a groan. His chest heaved as he pressed his hips forward and you were once again spread over his thick length.  
  
"Bendy," you breathed giddily, tensing up around him.  
  
A grunt of your name answered you. The wet sounds from before were back, along with your shared pleasure. Your toes curled at the feeling and Bendy huffed, quickly setting a fast pace. Taking advantage of the new position, he shuffled you further up the wall so that he could stand up straight and place kisses over your front, all while steadily pumping his hips forward. First, his fingers dug into your waist. Next, he pressed a thumb to your clit, rubbing it in small circles and forcing a strangled cry out of you. Then, he finally settled for holding the sides of your face while tapping your foreheads together and unintelligibly snarling about all the things he would like to do with you. Out of love, of course.  
  
You could do nothing but wrap your legs around his waist and babble a varying combinations of "yes please" and his name. Even doing something as simple as biting your lip seemed to set the cartoon off. When you felt a particularly jarring shock go up your spine, you cried out, then bit your lip, silencing any other sounds to accidentally escape you. Bendy growled at this and forcibly pressed his lips against yours so that he could be the one doing the biting, not you. You squeaked and scrabbled at the ink demon's back to steady yourself. It turned out that you were using your nails a bit too much, since Bendy then hissed and yanked your arms away from him. He settled for pinning them above your head by your wrists, which sadly left his own hands occupied. If only he still had his bowtie. Or any tie, at that. Then the thought of tying your wrists escalated into much sicker fantasies and he grunted, face twisting as he slapped in again.  
  
"Bendy!" You yelped, loud voice echoing throughout the tub. Your fingers twitched at being restrained when all you really wanted to do was memorize every single contour of his face, his chest, his back, everywhere.  
  
Bendy groaned again. Despite the intense waves crashing over the two of you and the hot feeling in the pit of his stomach growing, he was getting nowhere with the current position. He bit down into your neck one last time, savored the feeling of your soaked chests sliding over one another's, retracted his hands from your wrists, and flipped you over again. Now your face was being pressed into the shower wall and Bendy's front brushed over your backside. A gasp of surprise escaped you and you could do nothing but stand there with your legs spread, trembling when Bendy brushed aside your wet hair to lap at the back of your neck in long, soothing strokes.  
  
The devil rumbled your name as he did so, then dipped a hand down to hoist up one of your thighs and prop it on the wall. His other hand splayed by your face. You shivered at the feeling of being helpless. Noticing this, Bendy cooed in your ear and rolled his hips forward invitingly, not yet sliding in, only rubbing the underside of his length over you. You moaned his name, crossing your arms above your head.  
  
His purr intensified as he asked, "What, (Y/N)? D'ya want me?"  
  
"Yes," you squeaked in an undertone.  
  
"What was that? Couldn't really hear it, toots."  
  
You knew fully well he was fucking with you but that didn't keep your sex-addled self from peeping, "Bendy... Bendy, please..."  
  
"Please what?"  
  
"Bendy!"  
  
A strange cross between a laugh and a moan answered you. "Alright, fine. S'like pullin' teeth with ya, I swear..." Nonetheless, the ink demon complied to your half-hearted begging and finally angled himself properly inside.  
  
A sigh of relief escaped you. Bendy growled and wrapped his tail around your thigh to keep it suspended, using his newly freed hand to paw at your breasts. The same feelings as before consumed him and he nearly lost himself in the possessive behavior that was making his hips jerk erratically and fingertips twitch. At least it was better than crying over his creator in plain sight of his girlfriend.  
  
Better by a long shot.  
  
There was no time to dwell on his lack of a life, just like there was no time to dwell over your plans for the studio. Even if he have time, Bendy wouldn't have used it. He was too busy pounding himself forward and heaving things into your ear as you were pinned to the wall.  
  
"Fuck, (Y/N), babe... toots... unh, baby girl, I love you so much, god, you take me so good, my good little girl...."  
  
After panting a few more choice pet names, he dissolved into shaky declarations of "mine". You weren't much better for wear. All you could force out were squeals and moans. Then, your cries suddenly became strangled. Bendy had placed a single hand over your throat and was now applying sight force to his grip. Nothing that would actually choke you or leave something more than a faint mark, but still. It was there. That was a thing. You tilted your head back, giving him better access, feeling your foot slip to find some traction over the watery tub. The movement only caused your shaky legs to spread even wider.  
  
Pleased with what seemed to be your compliance, Bendy dragged his tongue all the way up from your shoulder to the side of your face, purring and moaning as he jerked himself forward while pulling you back to meet his thrusts.  
  
"I love you," he murmured huskily in your ear and pressed your cheeks together. "I love you so much... fuck, you're mine..."  
  
"Bendy," you gasped back, reaching an arm behind your head to tug at one of his horns.  
  
You were so close, so close. If he could just arch his back a little bit more or give a particularly harsh thrust, then you could finally unravel the tight knot in the pit of your stomach. Before you could convince the ink demon to angle himself properly, Bendy tightened his grip on your neck, sank his fangs into your skin, then groaned as he hilted himself and spilled.  
  
Goddammit, you thought in annoyance at the hot, sticky feeling and his hoarse snarls. You didn't get to finish.  
  
You supposed it didn't matter too much, because Bendy did need this more than you, but then again, it wasn't like you didn't require maintenance.  
  
Once the last strands arced out and Bendy gave a few more feeble thrusts, he pulled out, leaving you with his cum leaking out between your thighs and a dissatisfied feeling. Your discontent didn't last long, however; Bendy soon flung himself against you and kissed at your face, purring so loud that you couldn't even hear yourself think. It was endearing for the first couple of seconds, then it became overbearing and annoying, like most of Bendy's antics.  
  
"Alright, I love you, too, get off," you said breathlessly, fighting against his iron grip. "I gotta wash myself off again, and so do you."  
  
Bendy purred and placed one last peck on the tip of your nose before releasing you. "Not really."  
  
"Yes, really. I don't wanna get stained permanently and you didn't even shower properly beforehand. I bet you still have plaster on yourself somewhere."  
  
"I do not," he snorted, nearly slicing apart your shower curtains when he lashed his tail.  
  
Fearing for your curtains' lives, you wheeled the ink demon around to stand underneath the water with you. He interpreted this as a sign of your agreement that there were better things to do than clean yourselves and caressed your hips. You snapped at him, grabbed a nearby bottle to squeeze bubbles into his face, then lathered his horns and scrubbed furiously at them while he was momentarily weakened. Soap burned his eyes and the water made him splutter. Bendy wondered if this was this how waterboarding victims felt, then remembered he didn't need to wonder because he already knew exactly how it felt.  
  
The cartoon remained limp for the remainder of the shower as you fussed over him.  
  
Once you deemed him as cleansed, you then started on yourself, with some extra help from Bendy, of course. His definition of help wasn't all that helpful, though. He mainly swiped ink splatters off your thighs and tried squeezing your breasts while kissing you. A few moments earlier, after he had finished, you would have welcomed these extra touches, but now you were more concerned about being presentable. You forcefully shoved the devil away, nearly making him slip. In hindsight, it may not have been the smartest move, considering he came back for revenge and pushed you into the wall.  
  
It took a while, what with the ink demon pouncing on you and all, but you eventually finished showering. Following close behind, Bendy tried flinging himself at you again, then failed when his tail tangled with his legs and made trip and fall into the tub. You choked down a laugh at the following thump ringing out. While he was preoccupied, you dried yourself off, shaking almost similar to a dog and splattering water everywhere. Bendy, after regaining his bearings, used the towel after and complained about how soaked it was. You ignored his whines and picked up your dirty laundry, careful not to get any plaster on yourself before you jumped outside of the bathroom and tossed it in the hamper. Cool air rushed to meet you bare self and Bendy squeaked at the sudden breeze. By then, he had finished drying himself, and snuck up behind you, making his presence known with a loud purr. You suppressed a smile, waved him off of you, then beckoned for him to follow you into your shared room.  
  
There was just one minor setback: the bed was completely stripped.  
  
"Dammit," you said, annoyed when you had been looking forward to curling up at Bendy's side underneath the covers for the rest of the day. "I forgot about the laundry."  
  
"What laundr--oh," came the ink demon's disenchanted tone.  
  
"Do me a favor and get it? Please?" You asked him with innocently rounded eyes. "The bed sheets are in the dryer. They should be done by now. Take them out, turn off the drier, and bring them up, please? Oh, and if you could help out by bringing the hamper down and throwing it in the washer, too."  
  
_Not asking for much, are you?_ Thought Bendy sourly at these instructions. Nonetheless, he grunted, "Fine," and turned to tromp away downstairs, bringing your laundry basket with him.  
  
You watched him go for a few heartbeats, then gawked at the empty room before you. Abandoned hoodies heaped in one corner with a few stray pant legs and belts poking out of it. Apparently, Bendy had cleaned his entire dresser looking for one pair of pants that he wasn't even wearing at the moment. You sighed and meandered into the room, hopping onto the bare bed. It wasn't very comfortable without layers of thick fabric or Bendy waiting for you under the covers. You sighed and shuffled around so you would be resting on your stomach. After some indescribable amount of time, your train of thought was finally broken when something warm and soft blanketed you, followed by a heavier deadweight.

“Ben’, get off of me,” you huffed, the blankets muffling your voice.

“No.”

“Get off or I'll suffocate you when I get up. Plus, I have to fix the bed. Then you can try crushing me.”

There was a pause. “Fine,” he grumbled bad-temperedly and shuffled off of you.

“Thank you,” you gasped as you poked your head out of the sheets. “You did what I asked, right?”

“Yeah…”

“Thanks. Now go away, I need to start putting the covers on the bed, and since you don't know how to do it, I doubt you'll be helpful.”

Bendy did not like implied as useless. In fact, he even tried proving his usefulness by clambering into your back as if he was still three-feet tall. This wasn't helpful at all, however, so you sent him away with a bark to put on his pants and to go get you some clothes. With much whining, the cartoon pulled on his chosen pair of pants then left to fetch you your own outfit. You were once again alone with your own thoughts. They weren't depressing but they weren't exactly sunshine and rainbows, either. Mainly, you were fleshing out your thoughts on Joey and what to do about him. But you were also faintly wondering if Bendy could cum twice in a row. Aside from your lack of an orgasm, the studio was more important. One of the many problems currently facing you was how on earth you were supposed to present your skeletal framework of a plan to Bendy, let alone have him accept it. Sure, he had gotten better at being social and whatnot, but he was still (literally) bullheaded beyond belief.

You sighed and tucked the last corner of your sheets under the bed. As if he was summoned, Bendy came slinking back into the room, greeting you by throwing the shirt he had picked out for you in your face and proceeding to ruin your neat bedspread.

“So I'm guessing you feel better,” you noted with a grimace while pulling on your shirt and pursuing the devil who was busy crooning and shuffling underneath the covers.

“I didn't feel bad in the first place,” he replied and shot his arms out at your waist to drag you under with him.

“You know what I mean,” you said gruffly as he wound himself around you.

“No, I don't. So, do _you_ feel better?”

“I don't know what you mean, either”

“Well, I'm sorta kinda the one who dragged ya back to that hellhole yesterday, so I figured that I should be the one worrying instead of you.”

“And I'm the one who drags you back to your hellhole every weekend. I think I have more of a right to be worried.”

“Yeah, well, let’s just say everything sucks and leave it at that.”

“Not everything sucks. Just parents.”

“I'd rather have a parent who ignored my existence than paying a little bit too much attention to it.”

“And I'd rather have one who acknowledges me, even if is in a bad way, than ignoring me.”

“That's funny,” said Bendy, his eyes glittering good-naturedly as he watched you despite the morbid topic. “Wanna trade?”

You laughed. If the ink demon was able to keep making jokes, then he couldn't feel too awful, but the problem was the fact that he was joking about his situation at all. Then you relaxed. Despite belittling his problems, it made Bendy happy (or at least, happier) and you had already forced him to be serious enough.  This time, you could take his approach to such sensitive topics. You didn't really want to face them, either. There would be a time and place for that.

Then that reminded you of what you were planning and your stomach flipped.

“I wouldn't wish that on anyone, so no trade,” you answered, rolling on top of Bendy.

Huffing at the sudden weight, he said, “I guess you're right, but then I've got nothing to do with Joey.”

Well then. There was the perfect opening.

You fiddled with his horns as you started in a mellow tone, “Maybe not right now but I, uh, was actually thinking--”

“Wait. No thinking now,” he said, interrupting you and slapping your hands away from his head as he flipped you over again so he would be towering over you.

“What?” You suddenly snapped up at him, angry at being interrupted in the middle of something crucial. “What's so important that you have to--”

“You didn't finish.”

“What?”

“ _You_ didn't finish,” he repeated in accusation.

Then you understood.

“Seriously? Now you realize this?” You rolled your eyes. “Who cares right now, I was trying to--”

“I care,” he cooed, tail winding around your thigh as he sank down under the covers.

“Bendy,” you said in warning at his slow descent downwards. “I'm serious, I don't care. Seriously B- _Bendy!”_ Your voice suddenly rose at the end, for obvious reasons.

  
Arching your back and hanging onto Bendy by his horns, you figured that you could try talking to him some other time. For now, you just wanted to see exactly what his forked tongue could do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, it was shit. I'm sorry.
> 
> Two weeks. Please.
> 
> Sorry for the awful, late update.
> 
> I'll see you in 2018, if I don't get in too bad trouble for my grades. Two Cs... TWO Cs...
> 
> That's horrible.
> 
> See you next year, also known as two weeks.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	26. Believe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I was pulling out my hair the day I cut the deal, chemically calm. Was I meant to feel happy that my life was just about to change?
> 
> One life pretending to be the cat who got the cream.
> 
> Oh, everybody said, "Marina is a dreamer."
> 
> People like to tell you what you're gonna be. It's not my problem if you don't see what I see, and I do not give a damn if you don't believe. My problem is my problem, that I never am happy. It's my problem, it's my problem, that I never will succeed.
> 
> Are you satisfied with an average life?
> 
> Do I need to lie to make my way in life?
> 
> Are you satisfied with an easy ride?
> 
> Once you cross the line, will you be satisfied?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gUESS WHO'S BACK!
> 
> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK, and I'm FINALLY back!
> 
> So, I know I said it would only be two weeks, but, uh, some things came up…
> 
> My grandmother broke her ankle at the beginning of this month really, really bad, and she was in the hospital for a while. My mom had to stay with her, so I've been taking care of my siblings and pets all by myself while she was away. I mean, she's outta the hospital now, but she has surgery tomorrow and my mom had been driving three hours to get house and back nearly everyday and my dad's been at work longer because of the snow…
> 
> It's just overall shit. Plus, my grades have suffered SEVERELY because of it, my GPA has never been lower! And I have to start registering and studying for the ACT/SAT! And I have a retake to a test I failed after school today! Yay!
> 
> Yeah, so, I'm really sorry for not updating for so long. I mean, I updated Chapter 25 and added that NSFW part a few weeks ago, and I added more to Chapter 23, AND I've been doing some heavy editing, so I haven't been silent. But still. I'm sorry.
> 
> Another thing: I'm going back to my old schedule where I update every ten or so days. I know the six day updates were great, but I just can't. I have too much to do, the chapters are getting longer, I don't want to go through another burnout again (I actually haven't recovered from my December flop, yet).
> 
> I guess if you're still here after my hiatus then you must actually care about my fangirl ramblings, so…
> 
> Enjoy.

Night came and went along with the howls of nocturnal creatures, and it was once again morning. Birds twittered loudly in the late spring air, not at all lamenting the loss of our little avian from their ranks. In fact, they seemed to relish it. Less competition meant more food. The lack of empathy didn't bother the small, abandoned bird at all. It was quite cozy in the arms of its rescuer, the middle child. Well, it was cozy in a box that the middle child held. The bird had been slowly nurtured back to health the past week, or, at least, back to some kind of stable condition, and was currently awaiting its fate. The children's mother had been stricken to find them at home with a wild, dolefully hooting animal, shattered wing splayed awkwardly at its side. Despite its obvious need for nourishment, she did not much appreciate bringing a possibly disease-ridden avian into her home, though her animosity didn't last long. She was struck by a bolt of sympathy so strong she couldn't bear to deny care for such a poor creature. After all, she, too, was nothing but a poor creature.

And so the mother booked an appointment with the veterinarian earlier in the week scheduled for today. At the moment, she was trying to coax her child to hand over the box carrying the bird. The middle child was stubbornly unyielding, much to her dismay. She pleaded with him, attempted weedling the box out of his hands, and nothing but his growing annoyance met her. Just beyond the room, her other two children observed the scene unfolding before them. The youngest child was jealously scrutinizing the middle (she was, after all, the one who wanted the bird in the first place), whereas the eldest was watching in sharp disapproval.

“Look, if you don't let it go now, then it's just going to get worse,” the mother's weary voice drifted over to them.

“I don't wanna.”

“You may not want to let it go, but do you think it wants to sit here, all broken?”

“Yes!”

“No, it doesn't! I promise you, I'll give it back, I just have to take it in so it will be healthy again,” her eyes narrowed. “That's what you want, right? You don't want to hold it back? Make it sick? Kill it, even?”

That struck a nerve. The child gazed down at the bird shuffling around in the box, oblivious to the argument raging above, then grumbled back up to his mother, “No…”

“I should hope not. Now, will you please give the bird to me so I can take it to the vet before your father gets home?”

That struck another nerve, this time of urgency rather than pity. “Yeah,” agreed the child, terrified at the mention of his father. He shakily held out the box to his mother.

“Good,” she sniffed, though her tone became gentler. “I know you don't want to give it up, but it has to get better.”

A grunt answered her. She sighed, gingerly plucked the box from her child's hands, then turned to trudge out of the room. Her other two eavesdropping children squealed and scattered at her approach, darting in opposite directions. The mother huffed in endearing exasperation at the duo’s flight. Her shoes clacked on the hardwood floor, sending soft echoes throughout the now quiet, ominous home. The walls seemed to close in on her, walls that had been soaked in sadness seemingly forever. It was suffocating. Suddenly feeling as if her home was consuming her, she tightened her grip on the box and called for her children to behave while she was away, then stepped out the door. The mild spring breeze was a relief after the oppressive atmosphere waiting for her at home. It wasn't like she didn't have doubts about leaving, however. What would her children do, left alone for such a long time? A vision of her home on fire flashed before her eyes. Then the mother shook away the cliché premonition, telling herself she was being silly. She scuttled away from where she had stood paralyzed on her porch, over to the driveway.

An old, rickety car awaited her. Her, ah, husband (for lack of a better word) usually took the nicer, and thus, safer car to work, leaving her behind with the shit-stick on wheels. Bitterness filled her mouth but she shook it away and pulled her keys out of her pocket as she approached. The bird hooted apprehensively at being jostled around, muffled by its container. The woman soothed it with a coo and promised the ride wouldn't take long. She then ducked into the car, shuffled in her seat to make the lumpy cushion somewhat fit to sit on, and turned on the vehicle. A hoarse roar followed ignition and the bird screeched at the unfamiliar sound. Ignoring the piercing sound and hoping her children wouldn't murder each other while she was gone, the woman pulled out of the driveway and sped away to the appointment.

Traffic increased tenfold when she approached the outskirts of the city. Eventually, she became stuck in a knot of cars and howling drivers. She sighed and stared out of her window at a musty studio in the distance, where Joey Drew was angrily pacing in his office, furiously contemplating human mortality.

The past few weeks had, quite obviously, not been the best for Joey. For one, he was able to glean that someone had been snooping around in his office a week or so ago, judging by the stray papers he found scattered everywhere and the hastily shut drawer where Joey kept his most private files when he came back from doing, well, whatever Joey did. Two, he was infuriated with the way Bendy had slipped through his fingertips multiple times without his creator noticing and continued to do so; and three, Grant Cohen refused to hop off his ass. As if he needed more reminders the studio was going down the shitter. He didn’t enjoy the financer’s snide comments on why exactly the studio was failing, either.

“The genius upstairs,” Cohen liked to refer to Joey Drew as in a stage whisper. Joey ground his teeth and sat at his desk, shuffling through his violated cabinets. It wasn’t his fault that his workers were greedy, ungrateful swines who loved accusing Joey of manning a sweatshop (looking at you, Shawn Flynn). It wasn't his fault that no one could really understand his nighttime activities, even the gaggle of followers he had scrounged. And it wasn't his fault that Henry left him. A sudden pang went through the animator's chest at this internal remark and he scrabbled at his desk for the only thing to alleviate the pain. After some frantic searching, his fingers closed around a rectangular picture frame. He immediately brought it to his face. The glass encasing the photo was shattered and, much to Joey's dismay, had some new lovely ink blots staining the picture.

 _That's okay_ , he thought hysterically, pulling his sleeve over his hand to scrub the scuffs.

Only succeeding in slicing one of his fingers, Joey jerkily withdrew his hand from the glass. He hissed and watched blood ooze from the cut. Something more than annoyance flashed in his eyes at the sight of his own blood. But before he could pursue immortality, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

Joey returned his gaze to the picture frame and the annoyance faded into sadness, frustration, and longing. It was a picture taken twenty-five years ago. The opening of the studio. The big day. Nothing but fame and fortune ahead of them, them being Joey and Henry, of course. Joey couldn't understand why he left. He remembered the argument. Something about giving and taking... Well, Joey didn't comprehend a lick of what Henry accused him of. He absolutely loved having his fellow animator around. Did he really need to see Linda that much? Why not stop seeing her and start looking at Joey more?

Joey Drew flushed in both anger at Henry's choice and embarrassment of what he would have much rather Henry do. The picture did not give him the comfort he desired. Not only was Henry's face contorted by the shattered glass and ink stains, it also reopened never fully healed wounds. Joey had enough to worry about as it is. He had given himself something else to fuss over beside Henry, something to fill the gap, and that something was currently going off doing who knows what with you. Well, he actually did know what. Norman Polk, despite all of Joey's doubts, was proving to be quite useful. Don't get him wrong, it wasn't as if Joey was entirely convinced of the Projectionist's loyalty. But he was making his way there. Slowly, but surely. It didn't help that Norman looked about ready to faint anytime he came out of the shadows to confer with Joey and Sammy, though.

The animator sighed deeply and absentmindedly stroked the photo where Henry's face should be with his thumb. He wondered how Henry would feel about all of this. Would he be just as terrified as Norman, or as devoted as Sammy? It came down to a matter of their relationship, he supposed. Or maybe it didn't. Would Joey have even stooped to the level he was at now if he still had something to do with Henry?

Joey Drew shook his head as if he was warding away a bothersome fly. That was dangerous thinking. Why wonder when Henry was already gone? Besides, Joey knew his decisions were right. He was doing it for a reason. It was justified. He was pursuing his dreams. Could you fault someone for that? It made him happy. It filled the gap, he told himself. Alice was finally starting to understand after all those years. Boris, on the other hand, was, well, Boris. He loved pretending to be so high and mighty, but when faced with someone bigger than him... At least he kept his head down. Bendy, now he was a different matter altogether. Joey had calmed himself down enough to put away the tarnished picture and recline in his chair, the cut on his finger stinging mildly. Bendy's resentful expression swam hazily to the focus of his mind.

What a handful the ink demon was. Joey had always known he had had affairs with a couple of female volunteers (how could he not know was the question) and he also knew Bendy was more fond of you than he should have been, but to sneak home with you, kiss you in plain sight of other people, then do, quite literally, god knows what afterward... All this, happening under Joey Drew's nose, for nearly two months, when Bendy knew plain well how important he was to Joey. Surprisingly, Joey wasn't too angry with him. In his eyes, the devil was still a child, the same skittish child depicted in the cartoons. He didn't grow up. That was preposterous. No, he was really annoyed with you. At first, as we all know, you intrigued him; he was interested in your usefulness. He still was, in fact, though now you presented a completely different use to him than another loyal follower.

You would make a lovely offering for the Lord.

Before Joey could devise a plan to lure you into his studio at night (he didn't guess it was you who rummaged through his files) and cover up your disappearance, which would undeniably follow the ritual, a knock sounded at his office door. The animator jumped at the sound, temporarily forgetting where he was, then recomposed himself.

"Come in," he cleared his throat and said, patting down his constantly disheveled hair and clothes.

The door opened and in stepped Grant Cohen. Great. Just the man Joey was not hoping to see. For reasons other than his appearance, however. Grant was quite handsome (not really Joey's type, though, seeing as his only type was Henry), but the way he bore an expression like something foul was under his nose whenever he spoke to Joey... In short, it made him want to throttle his financer.

"Cohen," Joey greeted him coolly, eyes flickering warily in the gloom.

"Mr. Drew," Grant inclined his head, but the way he did it made the gesture seem rude.

Refraining from curling his lip or taking a leaf out of your book and chucking an ink bottle at the insubordinate bitch, Joey said sharply, "May I ask what you're doing here?"

"What else besides taxes?" Replied Grant.

"Oh, what about them now?"

"It seems like at the rate you're going, you won't be able to pay for them anymore. You need to cut down more funds. And not on the paychecks."

Oh, boy. The kindergarten-level lecture on wants versus needs. Joey's favorite. "Alright. Care to take a walk with me to your office? We can discuss on the way there."

"Fine," Grant agreed grudgingly, watching as Joey rose from his seat and padded after him.

A longing tug nearly reeled Drew back into the office where the picture of Henry and him laid abandoned on his desk. Ignoring the twenty-five-year-long ache, he hurried on past his financer, who had previously been leading the expedition. Grant scowled at the back of Joey's head as he shoved ahead.

"So, tell me, your genius: do you have any idea as to how you're going to pay all these bills, or are you just gonna keep us little people in the dark, like usual?" He sneered, picking up the pace so that he strode alongside his boss.

"Yes," said Joey enigmatically.

If there was any moment where Cohen wanted to smack him upside the head, it was then.

"Meaning...?"

"Meaning that I'm thinking, Grant, so if you could be so kind as to leave me with my own thoughts..." The animator snapped as he rubbed his creased forehead.

It was true he was lost in his thoughts, but they weren't thoughts of dollar signs and taxes. He was continuing his inner monologue on your fate. So far, nothing came to him. Hoping that a brainwave would hit him soon, Joey halfheartedly listened to Grant Cohen's tirade on his depleted funds.p>

The two continued walking along, Grant Cohen chewing out the animator for going over his budget yet again, and Joey Drew not paying any attention to him. Soon they descended upon the lower levels of the studio, where masses of workers shuffled around toy mounds and lakes of ink. Shawn Flynn was especially shaky as he skirted around puddles, though his newfound fear of the studio (specifically the ink demon who dwelled in it) did nothing to keep him from throwing the dirtiest look he could muster at Joey when he thought his boss wasn't watching. Unlucky for him, Joey caught the stare out of the corner of his eye and clenched his jaw. He did nothing to deserve this mutiny. Deciding not to pursue the toy maker and shriek at him for one reason or another, Joey finally tuned into Grant’s lecture, only catching the last few words.

“...and it doesn't help that you're wasting your funds on some intern when you aren't even supposed to pay her.”

“I'm not,” said Joey absently, lying straight through his teeth as a brainwave suddenly washed over him. So he was wasting too much money on a parasitic volunteer, was he? Well, if he were to conveniently get rid of said volunteer so that no one would question why she suddenly went missing…

“I guess I'll just have to get rid of (Y/N), then,” concluded Joey in a loud, finalizing tone, stopping dead in his tracks.

The effect was instantaneous. At the mention of your name, the employees they had left behind froze, then began slinking out of the workroom into the hall where Joey stood. Grant halted, then backtracked to pause aside his boss, oblivious to the audience quivering in the shadows.

“Get rid of (Y/N)?” He echoed interestedly. “I don't deny that would be a good idea, that and stopping the volunteer program altogether, but would it really be wise to fire another employee after Susie?”

Joey shrugged.

Huffing at the lack of a satisfying response, Grant continued slowly, “I suppose it couldn't hurt, though company morale might be low for a while, but if you quit wasting your money on an invalid and that stupid ad you always put out…”

Joey nodded in agreement and gave a dramatic sigh, raising his voice so the workers gathered behind him would hear. “Yes, I'll be very sorry to let (Y/N) go, I mean, she was so helpful, but if I have to…”

He glanced behind him, catching the eye of Sammy Lawrence, who had been drawn by the sound of his superior’s voice and the gathered crowd. At his side was a trembling Norman Polk and behind him was Shawn Flynn. Wally Franks was huddled somewhere in the mass, as well. Ignoring the others, Joey Drew focused on his ever faithful (brainwashed) right-hand man, then blinked. Sammy understood. The time had come for the final rituals. One last sacrifice. Then the main event. Luckily, Joey found that his “experiments” had been, for the most part, successful. His two test subjects hadn't made things easy on the animator, though they were settling into the bowels of the studio nicely, with the help of Alice Angel.

“So, when are you going to break the news to (Y/N)?” Came Grant Cohen's voice, interrupting his train of thought.

“What? Oh, right, when…” Joey answered, looking away from his horde of workers to say promptly, “Next weekend.”

“Next weekend?”

“Yes.”

“Good. We can work out the budget then,” said Grant, visibly relaxing. “For now, we still have to talk taxes. C'mon, I don't know why you stopped walking.”

Grant then dragged Joey away from the crowd gathered around him, but Joey wasn't upset. He had done what he needed to. The moment he left, the employees exploded, synthesizing even more rumors concerning you. Were you really getting fired for money, or was it because Joey didn't appreciate you sleeping with his precious cartoon demon? This was all just taking Shawn’s original idea and running with it, of course, but what they didn't realize was that it was true. Anticipating the day you would be “fired”, the employees went back to work, haggling Shawn Flynn -- who was painting crooked smiles on Bendy dolls -- about the original rumor he and Thomas Connor started. Meanwhile, Sammy lurked outside of Cohen's office, waiting to scheme with Joey, and Norman frantically paced in the shadows, wondering what he had gotten himself into and if he should break his vow of neutrality even further by confiding in you. Wally told everyone to cheer up. It was ineffective.

Not even you were happy as you hurried into the studio, a jet-black shadow following close behind, splashing angrily at your feet. Last night, once you had recovered from the treatment Bendy gave you, you breathlessly informed him of your plans for Joey Drew and his studio. Bendy had been stubbornly unwilling to converse and tried silencing you by sliding his hands up your shirt and squeezing your chest. You shoved him away with a scolding, then rolled on top of him to pin his arms down as you ranted on how you were going to sneak all three of Joey's prized ink creatures out from under his nose. The ink demon had paled at your suggestion and turned his back on you, snorting angrily. After many tears, yowling, horn-grabbing and tail-pulling, you finally forced Bendy to come to the conclusion that without your help, he would be stuck at his pseudo-father's feet for life. That didn't mean he was entirely convinced by your proposition (though you were proud to say it had become much more fleshed out).

See, he had some key problems with it, such as practically offering yourself to Joey and becoming part of his crazy crew. There was no way on God's green Earth he was going to allow that, especially if the Earth turned out to be his.

Bendy made his discontent perfectly clear when he reformed behind you and snarled furiously.

"Stop that," you snapped, not taking kindly to his disagreement. "You and I both know it's your best bet, plus, this is what you get when someone actually cares about you."

Ignoring the jibe, Bendy continued responding to you in his language of grunts and growls.

"Stop," you repeated. "You're not gonna get anywhere with me by being an ass. Honestly, you'd think you'd have learned that by now. Now if you're done being a meanie, go find Boris and Alice while I follow you so we can talk to them."

"I'm not being a meanie," he finally spoke up in a grumble, crossing his arms and lashing his tail.

With more fondness for his huffy attitude than you probably should have had, you replied, "Yeah, you are. You're just a big meanie, but I love you, so please sniff out Boris and Alice for me. Also, try to keep to the, uh, less inhabited parts of the studio. Not that it's anything bad, but I really don't feel like punching Shawn Flynn in the nose if he sees us and starts telling everyone we're having sex again."

"S'not like he's wrong, though," Bendy said, casting a sideways glance at you.

"Yes. Please tell the entire world I fucked a cartoon. Twice. Especially around someone who would probably kill me if they found that out. Great idea," you deadpanned in an attempt to take Bendy's humorous approach to such topics. He had been as serious as you long enough, which was sure to be uncomfortable for him. It was only fair you copy him now and besides, you had to admit that it did help you feel somewhat better.

The devil let out a small laugh, further lifting your spirits (your stomach lurched with butterflies at the sound, too).

"So, can we please look for the others? Look, I know you don't like it, but like I said, it's your only option right now. I might not even have to suck up to Joey. I could probably just run in here at night without finding out what exactly Joey's doing and nick all three of you," you mused, reaching a hand up to pet the curve between his horns.

A gloved hand slapped you away. "Nah, Joey probably noticed someone messin’ around his office that one night ya came over; he'd be a dumbass not to up security." Bendy's eyes narrowed as he then noted, "Whatever else Joey might be, he's not a dumbass. I guess we can try running your stupid idea past Boris and Alice, but no promises. I'm not even really all that on board with it..." Voice trailing off when he turned to pad down a nearby hallway, Bendy curled his tail thoughtfully, striking you with the familiar urge to yank on it as you hurried after him.

You resisted the temptation, however hard it was, and simply stared at the swaying appendage. Both excitement and disgust made your stomach churn confusedly. Excitement, because you were taking the first step in having Bendy all to yourself, and disgust, because you were setting foot in the workshop for the first time since your enlightenment. It was awful to think about all the suffering permeating the building's foundation, even more so to imagine inky blood splattering these very halls. The thought made you queasy, so you continued to focus on the small of Bendy's back, taking deep breaths to rid yourself of the nauseating feeling. These tumultuous emotions kept you from noticing the charged air surrounding the groups of employees Bendy and you skirted around. If you had stepped out of the shadows or caught their attention any other way, then they would have immediately clustered around you, breaking the news of your planned "firing". Whether it was a blessing or a curse, you didn't give them any reason to look up from their gossip and continued chasing after Bendy, who had learned to ignore the workers' chatting and thus, didn't mind a word of what they were saying. He was also preoccupied with his thoughts.

It wasn't too hard to guess what he was thinking about, judging by the hisses occasionally escaping him. The spitting only grew louder as the gears in his head whirred. As the two of you passed by a lone Wally Franks, who was slumped against the wall and grumbling about everyone ruining his mood, Bendy let out a particularly fierce hiss, causing the maintenance man to jump and stare avidly at the ink pipes, where he though the sound to come from. From them on, you snapped at Bendy to keep his discomfort quiet, reminding him that you were doing the right thing for the ink creatures. What Bendy hated was that it was true. He didn't like admitting he was giving you a hard time for nothing when you needed all the support you could get. Now torn between hiding you from Joey or realizing you were unyielding, the ink demon rounded a tight corner, then nearly ran over Boris. He halted abruptly before plowing into the stricken wolf and you accidentally bumped into the cartoon devil's backside.

You peered at him angrily to ask why he stopped so suddenly and caught Boris in your peripheral vision. Bendy gazed down at you, daring you to speak, then rolled his eyes when you gave him a shy look and scurried off to cower behind him again.

“What are you doing,” Boris asked warily after watching the brief encounter.

“What are you doing?” Retorted Bendy, forgetting you were behind him and lashing his tail, nearly slapping you across the face. “I didn't think this was where ya spent your time,” the ink demon finished by looking over a nearby banister, down to where a horde of workers clustered around Shawn Flynn. He narrowed his eyes at the sight and glanced back at Boris.

“It isn't,” the wolf replied indignantly, voice quivering. “I'm waiting for Alice, she's been going down here a lot. I'm worried about her. She uses the lift to get down and it's not exactly… Wait, I asked you something, first. What are you doing here with her?”

You stepped out from behind Bendy when you regained your usual bravado and snapped, “What's that supposed to mean?”

“Oh, it's nothing against you,” Boris assured you in a friendly tone that dropped to a growl when he then referred to Bendy. “It's him.”

“Thanks,” replied Bendy coolly, fingers twitching. Whether it was from amusement or anger or nervousness, you couldn't tell. “So Alice is down there?” He waved a careless hand to where the elevator rested down a nearby hall.

“Yes.”

“Does she usually come up soon?”

“Yes, but--”

“Then we'll wait,” said Bendy, cutting him off as he sank down to sit crisscross on the floor. The ink demon dragged you into his lap and purred dryly as he rested his pointed chin on top of your head. You could do nothing but sit there awkwardly in his iron grip, painfully aware of Boris’ cartoon eyes bulging at the sight.

“What are you doing--?!” He began in a low howl until Bendy threw a nearby plush toy at his face.

“Shut up,” the demon snarled, chest vibrating against your backside. “I'll talk to you when Alice gets here.”

“That's not what I--!”

“What, you gonna tell me I’m not likely to get into her good books? Making a mistake, am I?” Bendy's scornful tone dropped back down to a purr and his pale cheek pressed against yours. “Shut the fuck up, Boris.”

As if you hadn't been enraged enough, being muted by Bendy wrapping himself around you and spoken of like you weren't even in the room; the reference to them previously having a conversation like this -- more specifically, about you -- made your insides boil. That, and the fact that Bendy was only being so affectionate to you because he wanted to piss off Boris. So, in light of this revelation, you bit Bendy's lower lip savagely when he tried bringing your face to his.

“Ow!” He yelped as he reared his horned head back and brought a hand up to press his fingers against where you had nipped him.

“Stop being a dickhead and get off of me,” you barked, scrambling out of his grip and tumbling to the floor.

“I'm not doing anything,” he whined, temporarily forgetting that Boris was watching with an incredulous expression. Then, catching the ink wolf's stare out of the corner of his eye, he reverted back to the haughty douchebag he liked to portray himself as instead of the childish dork who he really was.

“What are you doing,” Boris repeated slowly because he knew Bendy didn't seek him out to show you off to him.

“I need to talk to you and Alice,” you said before Bendy could butt in.

“Why?”

“Because, I… Well, I'll get to that when Alice gets here.”

“What's so important? Why now? Why are you with him?!”

Your usual fondness for Boris vanished at this remark bordering on insult. “I don't expect you to understand, from what Bendy has told me about you!”

“You’re right, I don't understand! That's why I'm asking you why!”

Bendy, who was watching the entire scene unfold with sick amusement, accidentally let out a snicker. You froze in the middle of making a stinging retort and twisted around to face the ink demon. Only then did he realize he had made a grave mistake and tried to wipe his face clean of emotion. It was unsuccessful.

"If you're just gonna laugh over this, when I'm trying to defend you, then maybe I shouldn't even help you at all!” You spat, lip curled.

"Fine," Bendy replied coolly and went on in accusation, "It's a dumb idea anyway. I told ya, I got it covered without you butting in."

Before you could bicker properly with the cartoon, Boris piped up sharply, "What idea?"

"Nothing," hissed both you and Bendy as you glared at the ink wolf.

"No," he barked, tail bushing out. "I'm not going to be brushed off again, so tell me or---"

"Alice," you suddenly said.

"I know you wanted to wait for her, but--"

"No," you said crossly, drawing your arms close to your chest and pressing against Bendy's side as you jerked your head to a point beyond Boris. "There's Alice."

Alice Angel had slunk up behind him after emerging from the elevator, covered in ink and grumbling to herself. She straightened up to sneer at the wolf when he jumped and whipped around to face her with flattened ears, then caught you and Bendy sitting together on the floor. Turning away from Boris, she scuttled up to the two of you, small, pearly white fangs bared to make her look surprisingly reminiscent of the demon beside you.

"What do you want," she hissed cautiously.

"To talk to you," you told her, unfazed by the way she was stalking around the two of you.

"So sit the fuck down, you gonna listen to some shit," Bendy added with a wide grin.

Alice reeled away from him, taken aback. Listen to what? The angel cast a sidelong glance at Boris, now looking more confused than spiteful. Boris shrugged, relieved that she hadn't launched herself at anyone or clawed his face again, and settled into a shaded corner. Alice hesitated, then followed suit, much to your relief and Bendy's satisfaction.

Your nerves started to get the best of you since you were actually faced with explaining everything to the two ink creatures. At your side, Bendy stared at you, reminding you that you had gotten yourself into this. His aura was much more comforting than he than the fake expression he gave you. Swallowing your stage fright, you refused to meet his level gaze and explained everything to Boris and Alice. Boris looked as if he was about to explode multiple times throughout your speech but was silenced by Bendy snarling threateningly at him. Alice, on the other hand, remained carefully blank to conceal the blind hope fluttering in her chest as you moved onto your idea for smuggling the ink creatures out of the studio. It wasn't like she felt the same as Bendy when it came to Joey, but leaving meant becoming part of the outside world, where Susie was…

"Really?" The ink angel said in the dreamy tone she hadn't used for weeks, caring more for her freedom than your safety.

"Really," you confirmed and ignored the way Bendy stiffened disapprovingly beside you.

"I think it's a great idea," she sighed and forgot all about her alliance with Joey Drew in light of the wild fantasies about her and Susie's wedding filling her head.

"Well, I think it's a horrible idea!" Boris howled, putting his head into his arms, jowls aquiver. "Why did you have to do this, Bendy?!"

His own doubt dissolving at the accusation, Bendy yowled back, "Shut the fuck up, Boris! I didn't do anything and you're the one who was yelling at me a month ago to help you find a way out, and guess what?! I did! So shut up!"

"You can't possibly agree with this!"

"Not really," Bendy admitted and stood up to pace off the tremors wracking his form, "but it's the best we've got!"

"You're not doing this! I'm sick of you running off, forgetting about things, and this horrible plan just proves you don't know what you're doing!"

"I think it's a great plan," squealed Alice, though her input was sung for deaf ears.

Boris watched Bendy slinking around the room, both growling.

You were about to tell them both to shut it and to either accept your proposition or feel your wrath, but Bendy had started hissing again and screeched, "I do what I want! I'm tired of being pushed around and stepped on people bigger than me..." Though his words could be interpreted as a message for Joey, the cartoon demon continued on, "You like to pretend you're such a perfect little doggo, but really you're just a fatass hypocrite." Bendy slithered up to the canine and spat on his face to prove his point.

At this, Boris drew himself up to his full, imposing height, inky fur bushed out and lip curled. Bendy faltered at the sudden presence towering over him, then recomposed himself and bared his fangs, lean muscles taut under his inky black skin. An ugly, blotchy gray spread across his cheeks and his tail trembled as the wolf who had terrorized him on TV loomed above him.

Coming to your senses at once, you cried, "Stop!" just as Bendy prepared to fling himself at the wolf's muzzle.

He halted mid-leap and lost his balance, crashing to the floor. Boris yelped as the ink demon's tail caught around his ankle and he stumbled. Nearly getting trampled, Bendy spit one last time, rolled over onto all fours, and scurried over to curl up at your side. Alice Angel watched Boris from your other side, her mind clearer than it had been in days and wondering if she should take a stab at comforting him, then thought the better of it and brought her knees to her chest as he hobbled away to sit in a corner.

Boris looked like he actually regretted his actions, whereas Bendy was disappointed he wasn't able to rip out a chunk of his fur. You scolded both of them furiously and were only met with more soft jeering from Bendy.

“You just go,” grumbled the ink demon under his breath, interrupting your reprimands. “I'll stay here and convince him.”

“Are you sure?” You whispered and leaned over so that your conversation was shielded from the others. “I didn't think you agreed with my idea, anyway.”

“I don't,” he grunted back. “I guess it's the best we got but I'd rather you not join the cuck cult. If we work something else out, then I'll be completely fine with it. ‘Specially if we have a couple of weeks to work things out.”

You thought that Boris’ reaction convinced him more so than your words of wisdom. Bendy wouldn't have been able to stand agreeing with the wolf on something. “I know, I don't feel like talking to Joey either, but I can't exactly walk up to some worker and interrogate them. They'd go right to Joey if they were a part of it, and plus, none of the people here are all that keen to talk to me.”

“I hate Shawn.”

“I know.”

“I hate this.”

“I know. If you really wanna talk to them alone, then I could leave. Just try not to punch anyone.”

“Yeah, ya probably should go. Boris is annoying Alice again and even though it looks like she's happier than she's been in forever, she'll probably go crazy again. And Joey won't like that you're not doing anything. Not like I care what he does and doesn't like, but…” Bendy looked over his shoulder and back at you with glittering optics. “I'll follow ya later.”

You have him a small beam, pressed a quick peck against his cheek (which was still scattered with dark gray), stood up, and walked away, head bowed. Narrowed black eyes watched your retreat before turning back to a silently seething Boris and wildly optimistic Alice. A sigh escaped you at the sight. That didn't go at all the way you wanted it to. In fact, it was the opposite of what you had expected. Boris was always so logical and collected while Alice was... unpredictable. She was the one you had been worried about. Instead, Boris was livid and Alice had latched onto the idea of freedom like a leech. You frowned, though the reason why Boris was so adamant against you was obvious. It wasn't very tactful to be glued onto Bendy the entire time, especially not if Boris had already made his disapproval known with the ink demon. You blamed Bendy. How were you supposed to know that Boris was exactly like those workers down by Heavenly Toys badgering Shawn Flynn?

Speak of the devil, you heard footsteps down the hall and prepared for another visual onslaught of glares. What you received was quite a pleasant surprise. It was only a lone Allison Pendle, wandering the hallways as she searched for Sammy Lawrence, who -- unknown to her, just as she was oblivious to Joey Drew’s decree on your fate -- was in Joey’s office, scheming the day away.

“Allison!” You called out to the girl who had her brow furrowed at the floor.

Allison jumped, surprised by the sudden holler, then met your gaze and broke out into a grin.

“Hi, (Y/N)!” She greeted with a wave.”Where are you going?”

“To my office,” you replied hurriedly, not wanting to explain from where you came. “Wanna come? If you're not doing anything, that is. Are you doing something?”

She brushed you off and said, “No, no, I'll come, thank you. I was just looking for Sammy to get my lines for the day, but I can't find him anywhere. I can’t find Alice, either, but…”

“Right, Alice! Is she still giving you the silent treatment?”

The topic of Alice lasted you the entire walk to your office, making you forget all about your plan. You were chatting so much that even when you sat at your desk to animate, you got nothing done. It was nice to have someone of the same gender in your age range to talk to because you had to admit, Bendy's Napoleon complex got tiring after a while (however much you enjoyed being with him). Hopefully, he would be able to convince Boris to accept your idea but then again, he didn't really understand the subtlety of persuasion. He would probably sit on the ink wolf until he promised to work with you. With that endearing image in your head, you continued listening to Allison gush about how she had spent her week while deflecting questions she asked you about yours. You didn't feel like telling you had taken a nature walk, slept with an ink demon, then planned on burning down the studio.

In a metaphorical sense, of course.

The ink demon who you were so fondly recalling while politely rebuffing Allison's inquiries came stalking into the nook where you made your office not too long after, tail flicking and face unreadable. He nearly stumbled over Allison, who was sitting on the floor, then growled an order for her to leave.

“Alright, I'm going,” she said hastily, a hint of fear in her tone. Despite your obvious liking for Bendy, she had heard horror stories of the ink demon and seen the aftermath of his outburst last week, warning her to keep well away from the cartoon.

That didn't keep her from casting an almost amused and knowing look at you before she left, however. You glared at her in return, waited a few moments to make sure she had left, then turned to Bendy.

“So, did you do it?” You asked, sliding off the desk you had been sitting on and sidling up against the ink demon’s front.

“In a sense,” he huffed and pulled you closer to him. “They said they'll think about it.”

“They?”

“Boris probably wants to brainwash Alice into hating me,” explained Bendy.

“Oh.”

“But we agree that ya can't join Joey, even if it is pretend.”

“Agree on something, do you?” You said coldly, looking up at the devil, whose tail had begun to twitch in amusement at your remark.

"I dunno, but still. You shouldn't."

"I'm perfectly capable of--”

“You are,” soothed Bendy in a purr as he backed you against the desk. “That still doesn't make it the best idea.”

“It's the best we have, I think you said.”

“I did, but that was because Boris was there,” he continued crooning lazily and winding himself around you.

“Get off of me,” you snapped, only further entertaining the ink demon. “I don't understand why you act like a douche when you're really just a dork who likes reading chemistry textbooks.”

“I’m not the one who stole those textbooks from her high school in the first place.”

“I didn't steal those,” you lied and quit struggling against him.

Pleased with your compliance, Bendy lifted his head from where he had placed it on your shoulder and cupped your cheeks, cooing, “You did, toots. You told me about it. And you're the one who likes to act like a bitch when you're just an anxious little trainwreck.”

“That's mean,” you grumbled.

“It's true. It's also just another reason why ya shouldn't try tailin' Joey. He can be pretty manipulative when he wants to.”

“Sounds like someone I know.”

A laugh answered you. “But really. Boris said he'd give us his answer tomorrow, but unless ya find something better, then he'll never go through with it. I might. But that's a pretty strong might.”

“Doesn't Joey tell you anything?”

“Tell us -- the things he created -- about his plans for us? That's really funny.”

“He should.”

“I don't think Joey has a good sense of what he should and shouldn't do.”

“You're right. He did make you, after all.”

“And you say I'm mean,” Bendy teased, still holding your face.

Forgetting about your earliest disgruntlement over being treated like a child, you put a hand over Bendy's, shut your eyes as you leaned into the touch, and said, "You are. You're a pissy dork and I hate you."

"I love you, too."

"That's not what I said."

"But it's whatcha meant," trilled the cartoon in a finalizing tone as he closed the almost negligible gap between you two.

The next few moments passed with Bendy occasionally breaking away from you to spout out some of his usual nonsense and you telling him to shut up. Your false spite coaxed more stomach-flipping laughs from him and you eventually couldn't help but grin yourself in between the light, fluttery touches you gave each other. There would be a time to refine your plan later, for now, you were perfectly happy to brush your lips against his and giggle as he leaned forward to confusedly meet empty air once you pulled away. This became your new favorite gimmick with him. Eventually, after about ten attempts to properly kiss you, Bendy became sick of your games and forced you down onto the desk and pounced.

"Not here," you instantly snapped.

An eye roll answered you, as well as Bendy saying nonchalantly, "I'm not doing anything. What, ya think I'm that dumb?" He leaned further into you, floorboards creaking under the strain of your, Bendy's, and the table's weight. Luminescent white fangs lit up your vision and he continued, "I have an honorary degree in animation."

"You have a degree in bullshit, you mean," you retorted, shuffling underneath him and trying not to let his infectious beam win you over.

"That's my minor."

You bit your lip to keep from smiling. It was ineffective and a wide grin spread across your face, much to Bendy's delight. He rambled in your ear about how amazingly funny he was, then concluded his point by catching your mouth with his. Despite the position you were in, the ink demon remained surprisingly sweet, nothing like the way he usually tried choking you. You just annoyed the ink devil by denying him any embrace longer than a split second. To make up for the lost time, he carefully traced his hands up your sides and flicked his tail over various areas of your skin while purring louder than your car. You told him to get off you. When he didn't listen, you kicked him in the shin. He stifled a yelp, then laughed and propped himself over you with his elbow.

“I love you,” his chest vibrated as he cooed.

“Love you, too, I guess,” you huffed back.

Knowing that you didn't mean the last bit of what you said, Bendy continued purring and once more began the ritual of trying to bite your bottom lip without you hitting him. He threaded his fingers through yours, leaned further into you, and--

“AHA! I KNEW IT!” A voice suddenly shrieked from behind the ink demon.

Eyes snapping open and stomach lurching, Bendy jumped, snagged your lip with his fangs, then fell backward as you shoved him off you.

“ALLISON!” You shrieked at the giggling girl who had doubled back to lurk in the shadows of your office when she got tired of walking around alone.

“GET OUT!” Bendy yowled, face dark gray and hands shaking.

Allison Pendle was unfazed by the screaming match and continued hooting with laughter. “I knew it, I knew it, I knew it! And you pretended it wasn't true!” Pausing to shake off her giggles, Allison went on with wide eyes, “But does Shawn actually know? I didn't think you'd tell him.”

“We didn't,” you grunted and have Bendy a warning look. The metallic taste of blood permeated your mouth and you brought your fingers to your lip as you continued, “We didn't tell anyone.”

“Why not? You could've been honest with me instead of pretending like you hate him.” The corners of her mouth twitched and her eyes glittered, but the stare Bendy fixated her with must have told her to not step over the fine line she tread.

You cast another fleeting look at the demon who silently seething under his inky skin. “I wasn't pretending.”

“That's really cute,” Allison gushed obliviously.

Deciding not to answer for fear of throwing her out the nearest window or allowing Bendy to maul her, you rose and stretched over where had you had crumpled on the floor. Iron filled your mouth, even though blood had stopped oozing out of your lip. It was bitter, burning the back of your throat, nearly making you gag. Your eyes filled with stars after your abrupt movements, then blinking them away, you refocused on Pendle.

“Did you have to come back?” You asked drily.

“I was just wondering what you were doing,” she explained. “I didn't know you wanted me to not come back.”

“I told you--” Bendy started to growl behind you, but you cut him off with a strict look and peered at your nosy friend, lowering your voice.

“Alright, fine. Shawn somehow guessed that we're, um, together and now the entire studio hates me. Are you gonna go join them, now?” As you spoke, it was hard to keep your voice from cracking with the pain of the studio repudiating you. All the people you mildly enjoyed talking to (or listening to, in your case) disowning you just because you had found out that Bendy wasn't a complete prick… How fair was that?

The voice actress must have sensed your suffering, for she then abandoned her previous excitement for awkward shame and said hesitantly, “No, (Y/N), of course not, I mean, I’ve only heard a little bit of what they've been saying about you but it's horrible and… Oh, I just don't agree; there are worse things than being in love with a cartoon, aren't there?”

Like fucking a cartoon, you bemused, then replied, “Probably. What have they been saying about me, exactly?”

Her eyes widened even further -- if that was possible -- until they resembled milky, innocent moons. The sight made your stomach clench for some reason. “Not very nice things. I don't even think it's possible to do… that… with him--”

“Right, “ you agreed dishonestly, hiding signs of nervousness from her.

“--and they just really seem to hate him, don't they? I'm, um, sorry for coming back here, too, I…” Allison glanced over at Bendy, who had curled into a corner and stared blankly at his limp tail, ignorant to your conversation. “I wasn't thinking. I'm sorry.”

“It's fine,” you sighed as an oncoming headache made your temples pound

“Not really. I… I can't keep people from talking about you. Well, I can tell them to shut up but that doesn't mean they'll listen, s-so… If there's anything I can do to help…”

You were about to decline her, to tell her that her efforts were appreciated but pointless, then faltered. If there was anything she could help with, anything at all? You watched Allison Pendle ramble on about something or other and did some quick thinking. She wasn't in danger of Joey capturing her for the sake of some cult because she was in a relationship with his creation. She was sweet enough to suck up to the animator. She was loyal enough to not give you away…

Decision made, you finally said, “Yeah, actually, there is something you could do for me.”

Your friend broke off in the middle of another tangent and blinked at you. “Really? What do you need?”

“So, you know how that rumor is true now, right?” You started, trying to sound nonchalant. “I was thinking, what if someone else found out that it was really true like you did? Specifically someone like Joey?”

At the man's name, Bendy jerked up, banging his horns against the wall. A dull thump and hiss rang out.

The two of you ignored his acid stare and Allison said, “And…?”

“And, if that happened, then that wouldn't be good for us, right? So if you could find out what people like Joey or Sammy are saying about us, then that would be great. Joey also stays at night with some other employees. You could keep an eye on him, then, too.”

“That's it?”

“That would be perfect.”

“Oh,” said Allison, shoulders slumping in visual relaxation. “Yeah, I can. Actually, I can keep an ear out right now, since I really do have to get my lines from Sammy.” Soft, watery eyes bored into yours, then looked at Bendy, who bared his teeth at the voice actress as she backed away. “I'll see you, then.”

“I'll see you too,” you whispered after her disappearing form, leaving you to reflect on what you had dragged your friend into on impulse. Then, turning to face Bendy, you said wearily, “There. Problem fixed. Will you let me help you properly now?”

Unfreezing from where he was hunched in the corner, Bendy walked up to you and said, “I was gonna let ya do that anyway.”

“No, you would have fought me every step of the way. But now I don't have to tag along with Joey since Allison is doing that for me now.”

“Better her than you,” the ink demon concluded, not recognizing your regret for asking your friend to do such a thing. “Besides that, d’you think she'll keep quiet about…?”

“About us?” You finished and leaned against him as you searched for his slow, sluggish heartbeat to comfort you, then went on with a note of mirth to hide your guilt. “Yeah. She's not really like college douche, right?”

“Right,” the ink demon agreed, a good-humored gleam returning to his eyes.

“We probably shouldn't do that in public anymore.”

“I can’t help it,” he said, voice rising to a whine. “It’s Allison's fault she's too much of a twit to understand simple things.”

“Sounds like you when I tell you to listen to me or to get off of me.”

Instead of answering, Bendy let his laugh turn into purrs, and for all your protests, forced you back down onto the desk. His mood had greatly improved now that you were no longer in danger of becoming another one of Joey’s experiments, but you couldn't help but fear for clueless little Allison shambling around the studio at night.

The end of the day came quicker than you would have preferred (there was, after all, a devil refusing to take his weight off of you as he threaded his fingers through your hair and held the sides of your face), and even worse, you had gotten absolutely nothing done. You didn't check in with Joey this morning, mainly because you had arrived on time and were afraid of launching yourself at his face to give him a taste of all he had done. Anyhow, it would not please the animator if you refused to show your face and offer him something of worth.

“Dammit,” you muttered as you shuffled through the papers strewn about your office.

Bendy had allowed you your freedom when you kicked him in the shin and now watched you crawl on your hands and knees.

“Whaddya looking for?” The cartoon inquired.

“Something to give to Joey,” you answered, bringing a paper up to your face before tossing it away. It fluttered down to land somewhere over your shoulder. “I didn't see him this morning so I definitely have to check in with him now and I haven't gotten anything done today!”

“Huh. If ya want, then I could talk to him.”

“No, I don't want you being around him more than you have to.”

“So what’re ya gonna do, pull some animation outta your ass and call it a day?” He mused, tail curling as he tugged at the fingers of his gloves.

You snorted. “What, and you can do that?”

“No. But I have some animations of mine I keep in the vents when I'm not working on them. I could give those to Joey and tell him that ya couldn't see him but you left those behind. Your style’s similar enough to mine, I mean, I did teach you.”

“Really?” You set your wide optics upon him from where you sat on the floor.

The sight made a warm feeling spread from the pit of his stomach to his fingertips. “Yeah. But y’owe me after that.”

“You owe me for letting you stay in my house and for trying to get you oh of this damn hellhole.” Despite your snappish words, you stood, wrapped your arms around him, and said quietly. “But thank you.”

“S’fine. I'll talk to Boris, too. It was good that you thoughta Allison. As long as she keeps her mouth shut, she'll be fine.”

“I don't think anyone who hangs around Joey can be considered fine.”

“I know. But like I said, better her than you.” Cooing and tightening his grip on you, he said, “See ya, then.”

It felt as if something was strangling your insides. “I'll see you, too,” you said as you broke away from him and walked down the hall leading out to the main room.

His eyes bored into your back on the way out and your throat further constricted. This would be the first time you left him behind, knowing what he faced at night. You were almost disgusted with yourself for practically abandoning him, but you knew there was no choice. Taking a deep breath, you paused beside the door before exiting. All the other employees had left by now, you being late from your time with Bendy in your office. Even though his eyes had left you long ago, there was still strange, tingling sensation of being watched. Ice trickled down your back and you shivered. The feeling didn't go away. Thoroughly anxious, you threw the exit open, stepped out of the threshold, and wished well for all those you were leaving behind.

Norman Polk gawked after you, cursing himself for his lack of action. It was one of the few chances he would get to spare an innocent (though not virgin) girl's life and he blew it. He had played the scene out in his head all day, too. It would have gone perfectly and he would have kept you from continually fraternizing with that demon, too. Now his chance to reason with you was gone. The Projectionist melted further away into the shadows, turning away from the door and trembling. If only the studio hadn't made him so terrified. Ever since he heard Shawn’s rumor and Joey got worse… He shuddered at the thought of his boss. Joey Drew. Everything came back to him.

“Damn that man,” Norman growled, slumping against the wall in imitation of a depressed Wally.

“Damn who?” Came a voice from the gloom further down the hallway.

Norman jerked at the sound of the disembodied voice and watched, paralyzed, as Joey Drew himself materialized from the shadows.

“Damn who?” Joey repeated coldly, though he had enough intelligence to assume whom the Projectionist was talking about.

Norman opened his mouth, then closed it. No words escaped him.

Pretending as if he hadn't noticed, Joey said with a nod to the end of the hallway where Norman had watched you, “I saw you down there. Not very loyal, are you?”

“I didn't do anything,” the man snapped once he found his voice. “You're the one who's doing something, this… this freakshow you're making, the things you're planning on doing, it's not right! I don't believe in any of this!”

“Well, I'm sorry to say that I do not give a damn if you don’t believe. So, Norman, if you'll please follow me…”

The Projectionist was compelled to follow Joey Drew against his will as he started slinking down the hall to the Ink Machine. He swallowed heavily and counted his sins, knowing that he was about to found out exactly what had happened to the college boy and elderly woman those few weeks ago.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Um… Is it bad that I like Joey? Like, A LOT? He's actually my, uh, favorite, besides Bendy...
> 
> *hides from fangirls* Y’aren't gonna kill me, right?
> 
> I just--I dunno, he's such a good character, I… *shrinks away* I dunno… The song I used for this chapter, Are You Satisfied by Marina and the Diamonds, fits him really well.
> 
> I'd punch him if I got the chance, though.
> 
> Anyway, yeah, don't expect super quick updates all the time now. Especially because it's the end of the semester and my grades are shit and I get my report card in a week or so. I'm almost a hundred percent sure I'm gonna get my phone and laptop taken away.
> 
> HEY, that reminds me, aside from editing and adding stuff to chapters, I've been illustrating the fic! Yup! I dunno if y'all have seen ‘em yet, but I added pictures to Chapter 2, 5, 7, 14, and 23 so far, and I plan on making more. If you’ve seen them, then yeah, that's my Bendy, um… I'm not a very good artist but I really wanted to make something for this fic. I've been pouring my everything into it for the past seven or so months and I figured hey, why not? Sorry for my shit art, though. And I'm still sorry for the super late update.
> 
> I'm trying. I really am. It means so much to me that y'all have stuck around and supported me. The kudos and comments show that *points up*
> 
> I don't deserve it, but thank you.
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout.


	27. Echo

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alternate Title: The Conflation of Joey Drew and Bendy
> 
> (Warning! Chapter contains graphic depictions of torture.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DAMN my update schedule is FUCKED
> 
> Hey, hey, hey, it's TK and I'm back super late again... ugh. So, THIS took long because I'm actually trying to balance schoolwork and writing for once (crazy, I know), and I've also started going to a therapist for my anxiety or whatever. Apparently I have extremely severe anxiety, so, like *shrugs* okay.
> 
> Plus it's sorta hard to write nearly 10,000 words in six days, not including other stuff I'm working on under the table. Yeah, I do stuff other than this. Fascinating, I know.
> 
> Speaking of other stuff, before I start talking about this chapter, there's this fic I want y'all to read on this site. It's BatIM, of course, and it's my new favorite thing in the world even though it only has one chapter out. It's a Joey x Henry fic, called Blood and Ink by GhostsOfTwilight. I get it if you don't like that ship (I personally love it) but it's REALLY good and it shows a lot of promise. So read that if you can. And definitely leave a comment and kudos.
> 
> Anyway, as for MY fic, this is basically me capitalizing upon the relationship between Joey and Bendy. It's super fascinating but fucked up at the same time? In a nutshell, it's a father-son thing gone horribly wrong and it's sO COOL AND *insert rambling here*
> 
> So yeah, there's that, what with the torture scene and and all, but otherwise it's stupid dialogue between Reader-chan and Bendo. Relationship stuff, y'know. Things are sorta hectic emotion-wise, like, first Bendy is dumbass and pisses you off, then Allison pops up with the bad news, then you flip and calm down only to internally flip AGAIN when you get to see Joey... Man, I don't even know what's going on and I'm the author. And Bendy's having a bit of an identity crisis in the corner while that's going down...
> 
> Yeesh.
> 
> So, sorry for my crappy update schedule, come stalk the Joey/Henry tag with me, what the hell is going on, warning for torture and daddy issues, etc.
> 
> Enjoy!

Bendy stood alone in front of Joey Drew's desk, papers in quivering hands. Pipes creaked overhead. They were louder than usual. A few rustles punctuated the otherwise silent atmosphere as Bendy shuffled nervously from foot to foot, hating how much time he had spent and will spend waiting in the dim office. The space would always have the negative connotation of Joey forcing the destiny he didn't desire upon him. Not wanting to give too much thought to it and depress himself, the cartoon visually decompressed and slumped into the chair facing Joey's desk with a groan. The papers crinkled as he stretched out over the table, burying his face in his hands. A crash suddenly rang out at the movement. Bendy jerked, surprised, then twisted in Joey's throne to goggle at whatever had fallen. Shattered glass lined the dusty, stained floor in a trail leading toward… a picture frame. An honest-to-goodness innocent picture frame. Frost seeped through the cartoon devil's veins as he reached for the now completely ruined photograph. If the picture was important enough to be resting on Joey's desk, then his creator would not be happy to find it broken. A few glass shards scraped his hand but he took no notice of the scratches. He carefully plucked the frame off the ground and into his lap, wondering why on earth Joey, who was not a very sentimental man, would have a single keepsake such as this. Pictures, pictures. Would Bendy get enough of them, moving and alike?  
  
Upon further inspection, the ink demon could make out two people frozen in the photograph. The question was, who? So far, all Bendy had been able to infer was that both figures were male. That was about as far as he was going to get with one of the men, ink distorting his face beyond recognition. The demon focused on the other figure, brushing a few stray granules of glass away. Here was the only part of the unidentifiable person he could see, his arm, slung around his companion, who Bendy was now scrutinizing. His hair and clothes were disheveled, face narrow, eyes glittering with an awfully familiar gleam as he gazed at whoever was beside him, and a wide grin, which was even more strangely familiar.  
  
A bolt went down the cartoon's spine as he suddenly realized who it was and why it looked so familiar. It was Joey, a much younger, happier Joey, but it was him, nonetheless, and he looked exactly like a human version of the demon currently sitting in his chair. Bendy flung the picture frame away with a hiss as if it had stung him. It cracked against the wall, spraying more glass over the floor. He continued spitting at the photograph and even debated on whether or not to abandon his tall self in favor of his three-foot one due to how much he resembled his younger creator. Then, calming himself down enough to breathe properly, his dislike of being short won over him and he resolved to forget about the reflection of his own toothy grin in the picture. He picked his way across the room, careful not to step on the glass shards everywhere, and retrieved the photo. However much he didn't like it, Bendy doubted Joey would appreciate having something he cherished so much that he kept it on his desk in the corner, shattered and drenched in ink. Hopefully, he wouldn't notice the extra damage done to it. The frame burned through Bendy's gloved hands as he replaced it facedown on the table. He brushed away as much glass chips as possible with his tail, sweeping them under Joey's chair. Maybe the animator would tread on one and cut himself.  
  
Internally cackling at the thought, Bendy flicked his tail fervently, nearly spearing himself on a sinister looking fragment. It was at that point he decided he had had enough of cleaning and stood, once more draping himself over his newly claimed throne. His sporadic temper tantrum didn't ruin any of the papers he was to deliver to Joey, thankfully. By now, the ink demon was sick of waiting around. All he could do to pass the time was contemplate how closely related he was to Joey beyond the realm of animator and creation, and Bendy most certainly did not want that thought running through his head.  
  
He didn't have to force away the image for long. Joey Drew himself soon came storming down the hall to his office. The moment he heard his creator's stomping, Bendy darted out of his seat and scrambled to gather the animations scattered across the desk. He accidentally stepped on a stray chip of glass he was unable to sweep up and had to force back a pained yowl as Joey threw open the door, covered in ink and looking very, very cross. Then his gaze met Bendy's and the disgruntled expression turned into surprise. Since when did Bendy come into his office without being summoned?  
  
"What are you doing here?" asked the animator, skirting around Bendy to sit at his desk. Glass crunched under foot, though he took no notice. He was more concerned about the demon who looked like he would rather be anywhere but under Drew's scrutiny.  
  
Bendy refused to look Joey in the eye after his arrival, afraid to see any glimmer of himself in the deadened, icy optics. "I've papers," he grumbled and focused on the pain in his foot. "From (Y/N). She was runnin' late, so she couldn't give 'em to you herself."  
  
The temperature in the room plummeted at this remark. "So she gave them to you to bring to me."  
  
"Yeah," said Bendy as he determinedly stared at the floor.  
  
"Really," noted Joey in what would be a miffed tone, if it weren't cold and angry.  
  
"Yes," Bendy suddenly snarled, sick of the dance the two were playing. He finally glared at the animator and found him mournfully picking at the disfigured picture frame on his desk.  
  
Knowing he would get nothing helpful out of the cartoon, Joey sighed and opened the cabinet holding his most precious possessions to tuck his picture away. It was practically worthless now that ink blurred Henry's face out, but… Another sigh escaped him. He glanced up at Bendy, who bristled furiously at him.  
  
"I don't understand why you're always so angry," he started in a mellow tone, contrasting to his earlier silent rage.  
  
"What's there not to be angry about," retorted Bendy.  
  
"Plenty."  
  
"Like?"  
  
"I've told you multiple times."  
  
"I've told you multiple times," echoed Bendy spitefully, utilizing his usual defense mechanism.  
  
"That's no way to behave," Joey scolded.  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"You know you don't talk to people like that."  
  
"Do I?" snorted Bendy in disbelief. "Oops. Sorry. Don't think I ever really learned that between you 'n the cult 'n all. Hey, that reminds me, it's my turn to, uh, preach to ya dumbasses, right? Or more like it's your turn to tear my insides out. Same difference."  
  
Joey ignored his jibe and instead confirmed, "Yes, it is your turn. It's all for a good reason, Bendy."  
  
Bendy snarled at him in turn, throwing the papers in the face that so resembled his own. They floated weightlessly throughout the dust-speckled air and cast dappled shadows over Joey Drew's tired expression. He glanced up to watch the cloud of animations drift past before they settled on his desk and the floor, then looked back at Bendy sadly.  
  
"You used to be so shy and skittish. What happened?"  
  
"You happened," Bendy's insides twisted as he hissed and turned away to stalk out of the office. "And then I grew up."  
  
Glass crunched and footsteps followed close behind his retreat. Having enough sense not to say anything, Joey simply strode ahead of his creation, leading the way to the Ink Machine. Bendy scowled at his backside and ignored the workers gathering in the shadows to watch them parade down the halls. Amongst the crowd was Allison, who had taken up your request to sneak after Joey and watched Bendy with a friendly yet confused glimmer in her eyes. Bendy briefly met her ignorant gaze but gave no sign of greeting. A fresh wave of fear washed over him when the more loyal followers of Joey Drew closed off the only escape route available to Bendy, down the path to Joey's office behind him. Allison's face disappeared as the duo moved on. Time lost meaning. Bendy couldn't tell if it had been a lifetime or a second since they left the workspace. Either way, the Ink Machine soon appeared over the horizon. His stomach churned.  
  
_Think about anything but this_ , the cartoon told himself, blocking out the sudden overwhelming smell of chemicals hitting the back of his throat.  
  
The Ink Machine had been used recently.  
  
_Don't think about it._  
  
Joey barked an order for his followers to leave him with his creation, though it only sounded like static to Bendy.  
_  
Anything but this._  
  
They rounded the corner, losing sight of the Ink Machine, then came upon the iconic examination table. Bottles were already stacked on a small tray alongside the table. Despite not being able to see it fully, Bendy knew the dish was strewn with various tools of torment. Nothing new, obviously, except for the fact that this time, there was no audience to witness the prosecution. Bendy reluctantly crept into the middle of the room yet he refused to lay himself back onto the table, instead glowering at Joey as he blocked off the room, keeping both Bendy in and visitors out.  
  
"Why's no one here?" Bendy asked carefully when the animator turned back around to face him.  
  
"I felt like having some time to ourselves," replied Joey just as casually, like he wasn't about to torture his creation. "I don't really like being in a room full of people all the time, do you?"  
  
Bendy hated how much he agreed and remained silent.  
  
Continuing on as if the ink demon never ignored him, Joey said in a much harsher tone, "And that must be why you always keep out of sight during the week, too."  
  
A swooping sensation in Bendy's stomach nearly made him keel over, and it was nothing like the occasional tingle he got when he was around you. He struggled to keep a poker face on. "Whaddya mean?"  
  
The wooden floor creaked as Joey purposefully strode over to the examination table. "I think you know what it means."  
  
"Really? Do I?" sneered Bendy in his face after he crept up to the animator, hoping with all his heart it didn't mean what he thought it did.  
  
"Do you?" echoed Joey.  
  
The statement was met with another snort. Neither of them was getting anywhere with this back and forth game of tug-of-war. Bendy, concluding his creator knew nothing of his life outside the studio, then turned his back on Joey Drew to once more stare at his feet. His tail occasionally flicked into view. He would much rather fixate himself upon the slightly swaying appendage than the clinks coming from behind him, where Joey was deciding on which toy he would play with today. Every noise sounded like a gunshot to the on-edge demon. Bendy wasn't entirely sure if his brain chemistry worked the same way as humans', but he was positive his fight-or-flight sense was in overdrive. And currently, it was screaming at him to dart away as soon as possible.  
  
Before he could muster enough courage to barrel through the locked doors and past the hordes of workers awaiting him outside, Joey Drew finished deciding what to do with him and faced the ink demon, eyebrow raised as he placed a single, thin, forceful finger over his creation's chest.  
  
"Well?" he said when Bendy glanced down incredulously at the gesture then back up at his creator's falsely pleasant expression. "Will you make this easier for me?"  
  
_Absolutely not_ , the cartoon demon thought as he did the exact opposite.  
  
Joey Drew's words were a spell and Bendy could do nothing but follow. There was another thing he had, for lack of a better word, "inherited" from the animator. His silver tongue. The similarities between the two were beginning to terrify him more than these nighttime rituals. Bendy didn't know if it was because Joey put a little too much of himself into the character after stealing it from Henry when he left, or if it was because he had always been hopelessly destined to become his creator's echo.  
_  
_ _I'm not an echo_ , he internally asserted himself once he lay flat on the table.  
  
"Y'know, this might be one of the last times you and I have to do this," said Joey, peering down at Bendy with a familiar excited gleam in his optics. "The book is almost done. Maybe a couple of weeks, give or take. Maybe even one."  
  
"Wow," Bendy started in a deeply sarcastic tone. "Should I break out the sparklers?"  
  
Joey's face turned sour. He moved away.  
  
Usually, Bendy would have hooted at the expression on his face, but now his confused, terrified mind could only wonder if that was another thing the two had in common. Their lithe build and narrow face shape, sure. The Napoleon complex stemming from being pushed around too often, alright. Their horrible temper, definitely. But their humor? Bendy didn't think Joey even had a sense of humor, but if that turned out to be true, he would force himself back into the Ink Machine.  
  
Then again, maybe he was making something out of nothing. Maybe he was driving himself insane with this game of compare and contrast, he soothed himself as Joey picked around his arsenal of scalpels. It was nothing but the disgusting, sentimental, touchy-feely part of himself searching for some kind of inheritance, some kind of father in Joey Drew, when there was only the relationship between the animator and the animated, the abuser and the abused, nothing more, nothing less.  
  
Joey turned back to the ink demon, ending his inner turmoil without much resolution. A blade glinted in one of his hands. Bendy reeled back on instinct.  
  
Rolling his cold eyes, Joey sighed, "Look, I'm not going to do anything too intense. I just need to see your wrists for some samples. It won't hurt as much as usual; I'll do one, then the other, and you'll be done. Alright?"  
  
It was like a parent calming their child before they got a shot. At least, somewhat, with a few glaring differences. The analogy made Bendy's tail stiffen.  
  
Joey huffed again when he noticed his creation freeze. “Your wrists, Bendy.”  
  
“Your wrists, Joey,” hissed the ink demon as he slowly held out his arms, fingers in a fist to keep them from trembling.  
  
“Thank you,” said Joey in gratitude, disregarding Bendy’s nasty habit of being a copycat.  
  
Thin fingers curled underneath Bendy’s left wrist, cupping it in surprisingly gentle hands. Bendy turned his head away from the sight and refrained from recoiling. The pad of Joey’s thumb traced over a single, popping vein. Then, satisfied with the area he chose, Joey brandished the scalpel in his other hand and made the first incision. Bendy had to clench his jaw to keep from spitting and resolutely kept his gaze away, telling himself he could not see the beads of black welling up over his outstretched arms or smell the overwhelming scent of ink or feel the sharp, shooting pain as Joey peeled his skin back. How the animator could remain so nonchalant about this, Bendy would never know. He tried not to think about it too much between his trembling limbs and the sound of bottles clinking as Joey prepared the first sample extraction. Only a few small droplets of ink slid down Bendy's wrists and onto the floor below, which wouldn't do. Joey needed far more than that.  
  
He reached for his blade again and drove it further into the cartoon's  wrist. This time, Bendy couldn't help but screech at the sudden agony of having his wrist split. Nonetheless, a steady drizzle now poured from his inky black bodily tissue, something he couldn't block out as easily as before.  
  
_Think about anything but this_ , he told himself again hysterically, forcing back the spots dancing over his eyes. This wasn't nearly as bad as what Joey usually did but then again, wrists were very sensitive areas…  
  
Shaking off the observation and the pain of Joey prodding at his arteries, Bendy repeated, Anything but this.  
  
“Almost done,” said Joey from somewhere beyond the static void slowly enveloping Bendy.  
  
Think of the rain slick over his pale face, being straddled while pictures were ripped out from underneath him, a cat yowling as it leaped on his tail, a hand sliding over the scratches said cat left on his cheek, a screech of disgust following his retreat from underneath a hedge, having a bag chucked at his stomach, a TV bearing bad news, towering over a terrified worker and bursting a pipe over his head, keys jangling in a pocket, ink pouring over half of his face, _think of the way you said his name and told him you didn't want to lose him._  
  
Then Joey Drew proceeded to cut into his right wrist. Again, it wasn't as awful as what usually happened in this room, but Bendy was unable to choke down the shriek bubbling up in his throat. The fresh incision was much more forceful than the last, forcing out the ink quicker. Stars danced in front of the ink demon's eyes as his wide stare flickered back and forth between his creator and his outstretched arms. It looked like someone had taken an ax to his wrists. They were completely split, gushing out ink into the overfilled bottles Joey held underneath them, one for his left side and the other for his right. Bendy couldn't look away. It was mesmerizing, in a sick, twisted, disgusting way. He fought for consciousness, clammy hands shaking, stomach rolling at the smell of his own inky blood. It continued rolling down his wrists in gooey clumps as it clotted in a desperate attempt to seal the tattered tissue.

  
  
Joey picked around the flesh, doing who knew what, before feeling satisfied with the job he had done and the samples he had obtained. The final examination did not do Bendy any good. His form practically dissolved when Joey pulled away. Ink dripped down his face and horns to match the dark blood covering his arms. Now he wasn't sure which was worse: torture so intense he passed out within a minute, or this -- not as invasive, yet extremely painful, and being awake for every second of the ordeal.  
  
Wrists still split, Bendy trembled violently, finding it hard to keep a definite shape. He told himself to think about something else, like before, to think about you, or at least pretend like nothing mattered, though it was ineffective. Agony arced up his arms and spine as he heaved, dragging himself closer to the only company available to him.  
  
Joey leaned against the edge of the table and watched the cartoon crawl over to his side and collapse into a melting heap.  
  
“Joey,” mewed Bendy pitifully in his search for comfort. “Joey, please…”  
  
Without a word, Joey Drew rested a single ink-stained hand in the valley between his anguished creation’s horns.  
  
Bendy shut his eyes at the gesture, curling into a ball at Joey’s side. The stars at the edge of his vision exploded into a hot white haze before winking out, leaving him drifting away into static.

* * *

The ink demon awoke with a start. Complete darkness greeted him, along with the smell of dust and ink. Not a single coherent thought went through his head before he jerked upward from where he was slumped and brought his wrists to his face. His white gloves made only the faintest outline in the gloom. Bendy peeled back one. Then the other.  
  
A hoarse, relieved cry escaped him when he saw they were no longer split, the skin healed and as smooth as ever. The faintest echo of pain haunted him in the form of tingles going over his freshly closed wounds. Brushing off the sensation, the cartoon demon lowered his arms to glare at the shadows before him. His eyes had partially adjusted, allowing him to view some dark outlines. Wariness filled his gaze as he continued staring down the room and he curled further into the corner. A few moments later, after his initial adjustment, he realized he was back in Joey’s office. Disgust replaced the earlier uncertainty and Bendy snorted, standing up to slink out of the empty workspace.  
  
The brief reference to Joey was all Bendy needed to fill his head with the animator. The curve between his horns prickled to match his wrists. He involuntarily raised a hand to the area. Shame for his childish actions then outweighed all and Bendy tucked his tail between his legs as he scampered out into the hall to begin searching for you.  
  
Why, why did he have to act like such an idiotic child? It surely wasn't because of his suppressed emotional attachment to Joey Drew. Of course not. He definitely felt nothing for the man who had held his once small, gloved hands as he took his first shaky steps; who had simply watched the demon smear ink all over his latest animation when he was a child, never directly reprimanding him for it; who told him he created this entire twisted world just for him; who wisely told him the dreams do not always come true; who Bendy was merely an echo of.  
  
Bendy hissed and darted down a dark corner leading to your office. These kinds of thoughts were dangerous. They blinded him from reality. Bendy needed to escape, he wasn't an echo, and Joey never cared, despite what the animator and Bendy's disgustingly sentimental subconsciousness claimed.  
  
With the ugly truth in mind and a bitter taste in his mouth, Bendy wrapped his lanky arms around himself, trudging on to ignore his tingling wrists. His current job was to seek out the only person who had ever really cared, better yet, the only person who could possibly understand: you. The mere thought made the cartoon's stomach roll -- this time, in a good way. Since you had scrapped the awful idea of offering yourself to Joey for some insider knowledge, he was perfectly happy to plan his exit with you. Last night should have stiffened his resolve, not confused him. Trying to focus on the warmth permeating his entire body at the mere motion of seeing you, holding you, he replayed the only comfort he had: the memories you left him with when you departed the studio at night.  
  
Memories could only get him so far when the real thing was inevitably near. A childish need for comfort once more swept over Bendy and made his vision blur. The breath he didn't need came out in ragged, hot, hoarse wheezes. His wrists began tingling again. The faintest ghost of touch Joey Drew had left between his horns was more noticeable than ever. It seemed to seer through his skin, worse than the brief period earlier in his life when Joey had been fond of heating his knives over an open flame before making the first incision into his creations. Hysteria bubbled up in Bendy's throat at the memory. This kind of relationship between him and his creator, the fear, wasn't healthy. He had to get out. That much was sure. He had to leave, he had to see you, all he had to do was see you and hold the sides of your face and tell you he just wanted you to be safe, to have the safety and love he never received (whereas you would retort by saying you just wanted him to be happy).  
  
The ink demon put on a fresh burst of speed, nearly stumbling. He wasn't sure whether to keep running or pass out against a wall. Your office was somewhere down one of the corridors looming upon him, but everything looked the same, an echo...  
  
_No more echoes_ , Bendy reprimanded internally, furious with the way he kept implicitly reminding himself of Joey.  
  
He chose a hall at random and bolted down it to outrun all of the problems hunting him down. The instant his eyes began glazing over from shear stress rather than pain, Bendy then collided with something short and angry that squealed upon impact, making him fall over on top of the unidentified object.  
  
A huff came from you as your back thumped onto the floor. The hit winded you, and it didn't help that Bendy forced what little air you had left out of you when he crushed you under his surprisingly immense weight. The ink demon immediately scrambled up onto his elbows to gawk at whoever he bowled over, then relaxed at the sight. Euphoria washed away his earlier panic. A lazy grin spread across his face and his eyes half-lidded over.  
  
“Heya,” he said and swished the tail he had curled over his back.  
  
“What are you doing?” you snapped, squirming underneath him. You too had been searching for your significant other and the sight of him made you ridiculously happy, though you would never admit it.  
  
The devil gave no sign of wanting to move and replied, unabashed, “I was looking for ya.”  
  
“Good, you found me,” you said exasperatedly, battering at his shoulders to let you up.  
  
He simply purred and lowered his head to press his paper-pale cheek against yours. It was one of his favorite gestures, along with curling his tail around whatever part of you he could reach and tapping your foreheads together. Despite being fully aware you were in the middle of a hallway with Bendy draped over you, you grudgingly allowed the ink demon to coo and wind himself around you before having any real discussion.  
  
Your eyes softened in spite of yourself and you brushed a freed hand between his horns. Bendy uncharacteristically leaned into the touch, glad bordering on frantic to cover up any trace of Joey. His purrs became guttural and garbled, almost drunken. They then deepened when he shimmied down to press himself against your chest.  
  
Your previous contentment vanished like mist in sunshine. "Absolutely not," you spat, pulling your hand away from where it had been stroking Bendy's horns.  
  
There was the no-nonsense temperament that had made Bendy like you so much in the first place. In response, he nuzzled further against you to the point of near suffocation, hoping to coax a more satisfactory response out of you. To his delight, you angrily grabbed one of his horns and yanked him off you, then sat up to shuffle away. The cartoon straightened up, unfazed, and scampered over to where you sat criss-cross, back to the wall.  
  
“You hurt the back of my head when you made me fall,” you complained while cupping the area.  
  
“Sorry,” replied Bendy, who was clearly unapologetic. “Want me to make it feel better?”

  
You then spent the next five minutes shoving him away when he tried placing butterfly kisses over your face. It was playful at first, like most of your squabbles these days, but the moment he attempted to throw you back down onto the floor you furiously scolded him and asked him if he wanted to give you a concussion. In turn, he inquired what a concussion was.  
  
“Learn anatomy,” you told him and clapped your hands to the sides of his narrow face. “You can recite every single president but you don't even know what a skeleton looks like.”  
  
“I'm selectively intelligent,” he retorted, curling himself around you and wondering how he could get you to stroke between his horns again (he forgot about how he didn't enjoy being treated like a pet in light of Joey and his happiness to see you). “Biology is gross. The non-molecular kind, at least. Human biology.”  
  
“Thanks for calling me gross.”  
  
“Not you specifically. Humans in general.”  
  
“Yeah, but I sorta fall under the umbrella of human, however surprising that may be.”  
  
A laugh met you and Bendy teased, “Believe me, it's super surprising.”  
  
You half-heartedly spat at him, though you couldn't resist laughing along with him and threading your fingers together. Once you calmed down enough to speak again, you shuffled close to ink demon’s side, and put words to the nagging fear that had haunted you ever since you set foot in the studio that morning. “So, you're okay?”  
  
“Okay?” He echoed, wondering why on earth you would be asking (the cartoon had also conveniently forgotten about last night due to his current joy). “Yeah, why wouldn't I be?”  
  
Instead of reminding him he was a test subject and religious figure for his creator, you looked up at him with wide eyes. Understanding suddenly swept over Bendy, and he didn't appreciate it one bit.  
  
“Oh. Right. Yeah, well, it wasn't my turn anyway, so…” said Bendy dishonestly. His wrists, strangely enough, began prickling again. He averted his gaze from you and wrung them, rubbing a thumb under his glove where his arm met his hand.  
  
Interpreting his sudden mellowness for discomfort about the topic rather than a harsh memory, you swallowed and tried taking his goofy approach to such topics. “No one was really into your preaching?”  
  
A purring laugh immediately greeted you and you were pulled flush against the vibrating demon. “Nah, not really,” Bendy agreed, knowing exactly what you were doing but deeply appreciating it all the same. He didn't expect you to take a stab at lightening up for once, even though he had done the same for you by being somewhat serious. It was a nice surprise.  
  
“So nothing happened last night?”  
  
“Nothing at all. Why, did you do something?”  
  
At the question, your eyes gleamed with a light more typical of Bendy. “Actually, I did. I wrote everything we were talking about down, you know, the plan I had, and I also drew out a rough floor plan of the studio so we can…” Your voice trailed off and you twisted around behind you to grab the bag resting on your shoulder, which had been squashed when Bendy knocked you over.  
  
The devil watched you pull out sheets upon sheets of paper, each of them packed with your handwriting, then ramble on about every single last detail of your in-depth plan, though he wasn't listening to much of it. Mainly he was focused on precisely how your lips curled to form words or the glitter he never really got to see brightening your eyes when you told him he would be free.  
  
You glanced over, wanting to see Bendy's reaction to you telling him about smashing the Ink Machine and stealing The Illusion of Living from Joey, then noticed the glazed look in his optics as he stared at you. Your face fell from enthusiastic to crestfallen in a matter of seconds.  
  
“What? You don't like it? I know it’s pretty risky and depends on a lot, but this way I don't have to stay after at night, and Allison can tell me everything she hears and if she doesn’t hear anything, then that’s okay, too,” you reasoned almost desperately.  
  
“What?” Bendy suddenly said, blinking, your direct reference to him knocking him out of his stupor.  
  
“What’s wrong?”  
  
“Nothin’,” he soothed when he realized you were working yourself up for no reason. His lanky arms curled around your waist and he pulled you half into his lap. “I just really missed ya.”  
  
Your anxiety turned into annoyance, despite the sweet remark. “Were you even listening?”  
  
“Yeah.”  
  
“No, Ben’, you weren’t, now you don’t know everything when I literally just explained it all to you--”  
  
“I’ll read whatcha wrote later.”  
  
“You can’t because we need to see Boris and Alice and I wanted you to help convince them to agree with us, but if you don’t even know what you’re talking about--”  
  
“We can see ‘em later, too,” assured Bendy, who had pulled you completely into his lap and was now trying to envelop you as per usual.  
  
Your next protest came out muffled by his chest. “And I need to see Allison.”  
  
“We’ll see the dumbass later, too.”  
  
“And you need to find Wally’s keys.”  
  
“Shouldn’t be too hard.”  
  
“Bendy--”  
  
“(Y/N),” Bendy interrupted you for the umpteenth time, cupping your cheeks in his thin hands and tilting your chin up to face him. “Who cares?”

  
Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say. You immediately swelled, taking in a deep breath to lecture the ink demon, but were silenced when he clapped a gloved hand over your mouth. Only succeeding in making you angrier, Bendy cooed and shuffled you around so your back would be against his chest, making sure to keep a hand over your mouth despite how you were soaking his gloves and trying to bite his fingers.

  
“Don't yell at me,” murmured Bendy in your ear as he prepared to release you. “I'll letcha go, but don't start screaming.”

  
You relaxed in his hold at the warning to lull him into a false sense of security. It was successful, and the instant he loosened his hold, you flung yourself at his face. He squealed and slid down the wall to scramble away from you when you socked one of his horns. Straddling the cartoon to cut off any means of escape, you snapped furiously, almost unintelligible, at him.

  
His tail tip twitched nervously. ”What?”

  
“Why don't you just listen to me for once and stop being an ass?” You spat in his face, shaking his skinny shoulders.

  
Instead of answering, Bendy glanced down to where you were straddling him, then back up at your hard stare. A crooked grin spread over his face and pale gray dusted his cheeks. You noticed his change in expression, snorted disgustedly, and let go of him, standing and shuffling away.

  
“Why'd ya leave?” Bendy whined at your absence, first squirming on the floor, then heaving himself up to stand at your side.

  
“Because you're being gross, and anyway, we need to find--”

  
Before you could finish, footsteps came from further down the gloomy hall. You froze, clenching your hand around Bendy's wrist. The ink demon hissed at the tight hold, a shooting sensation going through the still sensitive area. As soon as you grabbed him, however, you let go, relaxing at the sight of who had infringed upon the abandoned hallway.

  
“Allison,” you said, relieved, both finishing your earlier statement and greeting the wide-eyed girl.

  
“(Y/N)!” Allison Pendle immediately exclaimed, much to Bendy's distaste; he grumbled and slunk a few steps away from you two. “I was looking for you.”

  
“And I was about to look for you,” you replied with a soft beam that then faded when you glanced at the sulking devil behind you. “Well, we were. Have you heard anything?”

  
“That's why I was trying to find you,” explained the voice actress. “I stayed overnight for a while, but no one really wanted to tell me anything. I don't even think they liked me being there,” her nose wrinkled at the observation, though her sour expression disappeared as she went on, “but that's fine. Ooh, I also saw Bendy there, but just for a little bit, I didn't get to talk to him because he was with Joey…”

The reference to the studio’s nighttime rituals made your chest ache. Suppressing the urge to flinch, you encouraged, “Alright, but were they saying anything about him? Or me? Joey? Sammy?”

  
Allison's previous enthusiasm then dissolved with your urges. It looked like she was choking as she forced out her next carefully chosen words. “Um, yes, actually, there was one thing…”

  
“Yeah…?”

  
“Well, it's about you, but I'm not really sure what the reasoning behind it is--”

  
“Spit it out,” came Bendy's cold tone from behind you.

  
You shot a nasty look at him but strangely enough, the harsh demand gave Allison the incentive she needed to carry on. “Like I said, I don't know why, but…. oh, (Y/N), Joey’s going to fire you.”

  
A loud silence greeted her. The statement seemed to have come from behind a static veil, which was now wrapping you in a haze of nothingness. Slack-jawed with blank shock, your mouth opened and closed, though no words came out. Fired? Fired.

Dimly aware of Bendy suddenly leaping up from the floor and gathering you into his arms, stricken, you squeaked for confirmation, "Fired?"  
  
Allison, guilty of being the bearer of bad news and inadvertently the cause of your pain, nodded.  
  
"When?" asked Bendy in your silence.  
  
"N-Next week. Sunday, I think," she answered quietly.  
  
Before Bendy could speak for you again, you croaked, "Why?"  
  
"Like I said, I don't exactly know why, but..." Tearing her gaze away from where it was trained on Bendy curled around you, the voice actress fixated upon the ceiling, then went on, "but I've heard some wild guesses. The most accurate one is that Joey apparently wants to cut more funds and discontinue the volunteer program, but most people..." She trailed off again and glanced at the duo drinking in every word. "Most people think it's because of... this." A wave of her hand at the two of you accentuated the last remark.  
  
Another haze constricted your throat, silencing you once and for all. Bendy's arms were suddenly acidic to you. A single thought came to mind beyond the nauseating fear: He knows. Joey Drew knew everything.  
  
"...s'not like Joey has eyes everywhere," Bendy had once assured you, one fateful day when you stood in an inky river with him, when you fell completely in love with him. But the ink demon was mistaken. Joey truly did have eyes everywhere.  
  
It wasn't like you cared about the threat of him firing you, in fact, that would make your sudden disappearance from the studio easier. It was the terror you had nursed ever since you took Bendy under your wing, the terror of discovery by Joey Drew, no less--  
  
The haze grew. Allison, unaware of the magnitude of your feelings, dipped her head and whispered, “I'm sorry. I really am. I can find out anything else you want me to, but I doubt it’ll change anything.” She fixated your blank face one last time with wavering optics, then turned to walk away. “I have to get my lines from Sammy. I'm really sorry.”  
  
Her shoes clopped on the floor, the sound fading as she rounded a corner down the hall and disappeared. In her absence, you whipped around in Bendy's grip to view his ashen face.  
  
“He knows,” you said, barely more than a hysterical whisper as your vision blurred in and out of focus.  
  
“No, he doesn't,” Bendy replied and put his chin on top of your head, ignoring the strange remark Joey had made to him last night that referenced to his knowledge of where Bendy went during the week. “He doesn't know.”  
  
“How--?”  
  
“Bad timing. We all know he was cutting funds anyway, and besides, if he did know, he would have come after ya already. And he hasn't. So please calm down?” He finished, referring to the way your legs shook as if you were about to swoon. “Who cares if you get fired? You'd have to leave after sneaking us out and this gives you an excuse.”  
  
“I know,” you breathed and scrabbled at his chest to keep yourself from trembling or worse, collapsing. “That's not what I'm worried about. Bendy, what if it isn’t ‘bad timing’ and he really does--”  
  
“He doesn't. He might have heard what people have said -- actually, not might, he definitely has -- but Joey’s never listened to any of the workers’ bull. He's just being a cheapskate, like usual.”  
  
“But we only have a week--!”  
  
“And it won't make a difference whether we have a week or a year,” the cartoon soothed and sunk back down to the floor with you still in his arms. “We won't be any more ready no matter how much time we have. Plus, it sounds like y’ave a pretty good plan already. Or, at least, the parts I listened to were good.”  
  
Your panic vanished in light of the jab at your temper.  
  
“You're an ass,” you snapped, wriggling in Bendy's steely hold.

  
The devil tightened his grip and let out his purring laugh, “I know. But ya shouldn't worry. Honestly, that should be, like, your mantra or whatever. ‘Stop being a dumbass and don't fucking worry.’ Has a nice ring to it, huh? Since you're a control freak with no sense of when to calm down, y’already have it all worked out. We don't even need Allison at this point. You've got it all down.”

  
You weren't sure whether to be offended or pleased with the odd combination of compliments and insults. “I know I do, but say--”

  
“That Joey knows?  Even if he did, he still would have no idea we’re all leaving. You need to stop caring,” he purred and rubbed his cheek against yours, eyes shut, completely forgetting his earlier internal conflict in his attempt to comfort you.

  
“You need to start caring,” you retorted in a grumble as Bendy practically squished your face.

  
“Nah. So, now that fatass is gone, we can look for Alice and Boris and sit on him until he agrees. Then I can go find Wally’s keys and whatever else you want while you check in with Joey before you leave. He wouldn't like it if ya skipped out on him again. And, if you really really want, you can try to figure out if he really does know about us while you're talkin’ to him. But like I said, won't make a difference either way if he does or doesn't.”

  
Ignoring the comment on Allison Pendle’s weight, you nodded slowly (Bendy, on the other hand, took this gesture to be you finally accepting the way he pressed your faces together and crooned louder than your car while furiously rubbing his cheek against yours) and said, “Alright. We can talk to them. It might take a while to convince Boris, but it'll be worth it. This is the only day we have to convince him before this next week, anyway. Next Saturday night, before Sunday.” A headache from emotional exhaustion spread behind your eyelids and you sighed, freeing one hand to rub your forehead. The vibrations from Bendy reverberating throughout your entire body weren’t exactly helping your exhaustion, either. “We can explain the plan and hope to god they memorize it, too. Worse comes to worst, I can always just leave them my copy and write down another. And yeah, I need the keys to get into Joey’s office and maybe even find you guys if Joey hides you somewhere. Wow,” you murmured, interrupting your tirade. “We're actually doing this.”

  
“Mhmm.”

  
“You're getting out.”

  
“I hope so.”

  
“All three of you.”

  
“Yeah, I guess it wouldn't be too nice to leave Boris behind.”

  
“And we won't have to go back and forth anymore.” Elation bubbled in your stomach and an honest-to-goodness pure laugh burst out of you. Invisible stars filled your vision and you decided to accept Bendy's affection, shuffling against his chest and tilting your head back to grin at him. “You'll just be with me.”

  
“With a few unwelcome additions, but yeah,” Bendy confirmed, pleased with your change in mood. Your happiness made him happy. “You're bipolar, y’know that? I see ya and you're all pissed, then you get spooked, and now it's like you win the lotto. What drugs are y’on?”

“None of them. Unless this ink is making me high, which wouldn't surprise me, but… I'm glad you'll be free. There'll be some problems with the transition, especially if Joey decides to come after us, but I doubt it. That's the point of destroying all his stuff, right?”

  
“Right. So you’re done flipping out, you bipolar freak?”

  
“Done.”

  
“We'll go see Alice and Boris, then?”

  
“When you let go of me.”

  
The delighted purrs grew louder than ever and the ink demon briefly traced the tip of his tail over your jawline before whisking it away and helping you stand alongside him.

  
“Which way you wanna go?” He asked, back straight and hand in yours. “We can go the quicker way, but there're more people there, so they'll see us, or we can go the longer way with less people.”

  
“The quicker way. I don't care what other people think anymore,” you said, not in a bitter tone, but at peace, finally happy with something despite everything that went wrong.

 

Besides, the beam Bendy gave you made all the difference in the world. And so the two of you strode down a nearby hall leading out of the abandoned nook, hand in hand, ignoring how Shawn Flynn gawked at the two of you when he passed by on his way to Heavenly Toys.

* * *

Boris agreed readily and almost desperately, much to your relief. Unbeknownst to you, the only reason why he complied so easily was that he had seen Joey carrying Bendy and his slit wrists back to his office that morning, reminding him of all he was fleeing from, but he would never tell the ink demon so. Alice had always been on board with your idea, though you weren't sure if you liked the blank yet level gaze she fixated you with during the entire explanation of your notes. If she hadn't been staring at you so oddly, then you would have coaxed some information on Joey out of her because you knew she spent more time around the animator than her two counterparts (siblings?) did.

 

Speaking of Joey Drew, you had finished explaining your in-depth scheme long ago and now stood in the center of Joey’s empty workspace to deliver your half-assed animation for the day, much like Bendy did last night (right now he was searching for Wally’s keys). The animator had only briefly greeted your entrance before rushing out on some “important business”. Whatever it was, you knew you didn't like it.

  
His desk sat so abandoned and oh-so-inviting in front of you but you knew it would be suicidal to try stealing Joey Drew’s things from right out under his nose during shift hours. You would stick to your original idea of sneaking in at night when he would have no clue what hit him. Nevertheless, the temptation remained, and you could only stare at the locked drawers where his precious book (and picture frame) rested inside.

  
Drew soon re-entered his office, temporarily curbing your hunger. He looked as manic as always with his disheveled appearance and various ink splatters over his face. Were you imagining it, or did he look slightly more psychotic than usual?

  
Before you could really delve deep into the world of psychology, Joey slipped into the seat at his desk, clasped his thin hands on the tabletop, then said, “(Y/N). What can I do for you?”

  
The sound of his voice made you want to force-feed him your animations. Now that you had been told of the cruelty he was capable of, you could clearly make out everything you had subconsciously thought to be off about him. Like how his wide grin didn't reach his icy optics, unblinking as he cocked his narrow head.

  
“Well, (Y/N)?” Joey goaded (did he always sound that arrogant and pompous and plain annoying?).

  
“I have my work for the day,” you answered, trying to sound as cool as possible, and paused briefly before adding through gritted teeth, “sir.”

  
Without a word, he outstretched a hand. You handed him your animation, making sure not to touch any part of him. Despite your careful efforts, your hand brushed against his and you reeled away from the very hand that regularly picked apart Bendy. It was unbelievable to think Joey had been stomping on Bendy for years and could possibly know about the only escape he had. It was the hand that had raised a blade to the ink demon, terrified him; the owner himself, whatever he could know…

  
The question nearly exploded out of you -- _what do you know?_ \-- but you swallowed it just in time.

  
“Thank you,” said Joey quietly, noticing but not acknowledging your jerky movement away from him.

  
He was certainly acting different, a far cry from the unpredictable man who gave you enormous beams while handing you two twenty dollar bills, but it wasn’t different enough for you to decipher exactly what was wrong. Knowing your efforts to glean whether or not Joey knew about your private life were fruitless, you clenched your jaw at the animator who had ruined almost every aspect of your boyfriend's life, muttered a terse farewell, and made a move to exit the office because you were most certainly not going to get paid tonight.

  
Just as you were about to step out the door, Joey once more piped up from behind you, “(Y/N)?”

  
You swiveled on one foot to meet his cold stare. At first, he didn't speak. In his gaze was a multitude of emotions, few of which you could tell to be anger, pity, and perhaps… perhaps a bit of apology? Then you told yourself that couldn't be right. Either way, your hatred and revulsion for him ran almost as deep as Bendy's.

  
Joey glanced down. Then back up. His tired eyes were wider than you had ever seen them and for whatever reason, you were forcibly reminded of Bendy whenever you scolded him. Disgust rippled through you at the involuntary conflation of the two. They were absolutely nothing alike. Joey lost the right to be considered a father long ago.

  
Finally, the animator spoke. “Have a nice night.”

  
You didn't respond. You left the office, cold, hard determination squeezing your insides as Joey’s gaze followed your retreat. A brief flash of fury lit up his stare but you escaped his scrutiny before you could register it. Hopefully, Bendy was awaiting you, keys in hand and a grin on his face.

  
The imagined sight soon greeted you. All of the other employees had left. You were, once again, the only person left. Bendy straightened up from where he was slumped on the wall beside the exit and purred when he saw you arrive. His tail lashed excitedly. Both a joyful and depressing feeling greeted the gesture. You shook this and what was left of your stifled rage from your brief meeting with Joey (your emotions were really all over the place today) off and greeted the ink demon by slipping a hand over his snowy, gaunt cheek and pressing your lips together. His purrs rumbled in your mouth before you broke away and took a step back.

  
“Keys?” You asked, taut muscles relaxing.

  
“Got ‘em,” Bendy answered and held the metal ring up with a clink. “They were sitting around in some supply closet Wally was sleeping in.”

  
“He was sleeping in a supply closet?”

  
“I would too if I could get away with it.”

  
“Alright then,” you said with a twisted expression that was somewhere between amused and estranged.

  
“Mhmm,” the cartoon agreed distractedly. “Joey say anything to you?”

  
“No,” you sighed back, not acknowledging how sick he looked at the mention of his creator as you pressed yourself to his front side. “I didn't say anything so he didn't, either. He was acting weird. Well, weirder than usual, but I doubt he actually knows anything. You were right.”

  
“You finally admit it!” Bendy exclaimed, crooning again to forcibly cheer himself up. “I'm always right. I know everything. You just freak out over the dumbest--”

  
“Bendy,” you warned, your anger growing again due to his arrogance.

  
“--the dumbest stuff, yeah, right, Joey knows, and Alice is straight and Boris is actually an okay person--”

  
“Bendy,” you hissed in the devil's face to silence him.

  
Submitting to your reprimands, Bendy dipped his horned head and said, “Alright, I'll stop, sorry. Now c'mon, I wanna go home. We only got this week before the lesbian and asshole have to stay with us and plus, I hate staying here. Is it dark outside yet?”

  
The question took you back. “Yeah, it should be. Why?”

  
“I don't wanna play puddle,” he mumbled in a mellow tone. “I, um, I guess I sorta liked walking around with you ‘n not having to dance around everyone in the dark, even though Shawn looked like he was gonna have an aneurysm when he saw us. Y'know?” He looked up at you with milky black cartoon eyes.

  
Somewhat understanding what he was trying to get at, you continued on for him, “So you wanna actually walk outside instead being a nasty puddle?”

  
“Yeah.”

  
You chewed on the inside of your cheek and stared back at Bendy. The only problem you had with other people seeing was the possibility of them pulling another college douche and fossil (you still had no clue what happened to them, but that couldn't possibly be important…) and you had to agree it would be nice to walk around without the ink demon having to hide his face and it was plenty dark outside and you were only walking to your car, after all.

“Alright,” you finally said when Bendy was sure you were going to pull your usual routine of snapping at him for even suggesting the idea (he wasn't yet adjusted to a kind you, similar to how you took some time to realize Bendy was quite an affectionate demon). “It's a short walk and it should be dark out now. But don't get used to it.”

A coo answered you and the ink demon threaded your fingers through his with his unoccupied hand and noted, “‘M glad you're not worrying as much anymore.”

  
It was true. You weren't. Even with all the things you could be worrying about, being fired, the fate of Allison, Joey Drew’s knowledge, your plan failing, losing Bendy, Joey torturing him beyond your imagination, Alice Angel possibly betraying you, being a warped echo of a past relationship you didn't even know about (pictures pictures), everything, you weren't worried.

  
“I guess you're right about a couple of things,” you replied after some time to your thoughts. “But I'm still right most of the time because you're a dumbass.”

  
“I know,” Bendy agreed, still trilling. “Now let's just go. I'm sick of this place.” _I'm sick of being an echo of this place._

  
“Alright,” you conceded. But before you left…

  
You traced your thumb over Bendy's, making his wrists tingle again. “And Bendy?”

  
“Yeah?”

  
“I'm glad you're okay.”

  
There was an interlude while you opened the studio exit and strode out into the crisp night air with the ink demon.

 

Okay? Could any creation of Joey be considered merely “okay”? Any echo of the animator, specifically, with the slit wrists and hand between his horns. The warm spring breeze wafted the scent of cherry blossoms into his mouth, in contrast to last night, when all he could taste was ink and terror. Keys jangled in his hand. And, looking into your eyes as you awaited an answer, counting all the stars pooled in their depths, excluding his own reflection for once, Bendy answered.

  
“I'm glad, too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, like I said, this was just a huge clusterfuck that I'm not too proud of. Next chapter will be much calmer, trust me. We'll be taking a throwback to Chapter 6 so that's always nice :D And I only plan for Chapter 28 to be 4,000 words like my earlier chapters, so that update should be much quicker.
> 
> Don't quote me on that.
> 
> Then Chapter 29 will be split cleanly between two perspectives (including the last NSFW scene in there. It's gonna be... kinky) and Chapter 30 will be a SHITSTORM (but a fun shitstorm) before the epilogue.
> 
> Chapter 30 is probably gonna be as long and take as long as balls :/ But you can obsessively read that fanfic I recommended in the meantime!
> 
> Anyway, hope you liked the conflation of Joey Drew and Bendy while Reader-chan was being bipolar in the corner.
> 
> That torture scene was super fun to write
> 
> I'm evil :)
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout


	28. Stars

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You bought a star in the sky tonight because your life is dark, and it needs some light.
> 
> You named it after me, but I'm not yours to keep because you'll never see that the stars are free.
> 
> Oh, we don't own our heavens now; we only own our hell, and if you don't know that by now, then you don't know me that well.
> 
> All my life I've been so lonely, all in the name of being holy. Still, you'd like to think you know me. You keep buying stars.
> 
> And you could buy up all the stars, but it wouldn't change who you are. You're still living life in the dark.
> 
> It's just who you are.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *shuffles in*
> 
> So...
> 
> *closes door*
> 
> Um...
> 
> *sits down*
> 
> Y'know how I said this chapter was supposed to be a real quick, short update?
> 
> I lied :)
> 
> It took forever for me to update again, another three weeks, I know, but I wrote, like, 9,000 words :/ Most of it is stupid dialogue and filler bullshit and horrible fluff (I'm bad at fluff, if you hadn't yet noticed), but hopefully it's worth it!
> 
> Ah, who am I kidding, I'm shit, it's all shit... *grumbles*
> 
> Anyway, this is mostly Bendy being a clingy asshole because affection and whatnot, and there's a small bit with Joey at the end, but that's it. Filler before the last NSFW scene and Alice's POV next chapter, then... everything after that.
> 
> Yeesh.
> 
> I dunno how long this next chapter will take. I'm really sick right now and I have Spring Break, so I won't be able to update then unless I get my laptop back, plus it'll be around 8,000 words...
> 
> Beginning of April, I'd say?
> 
> Whatever . _.
> 
> So, with that being said, enjoy my filler bullshit.
> 
> (Also thank you for over 900 kudos :>)

Monday morning arrived after a rather uneventful night (unless you counted Bendy flinging your half-empty dinner plate onto the dining table floor as an event) and dreamless sleep. The lack of nightmares allowed you to get some decent shut-eye for once, but your body thought it was a wonderful idea to wake itself up at the asscrack of dawn. Your shared room was dark enough with heavy curtains hanging at the windows, but the lack of sunlight made it much harder to see. You couldn't even raise your weary arms to wipe the sleep out of your eyes because Bendy had you in the usual death hug. His slumber was undisturbed as well; no purrs vibrated in his throat and his thin tail, wrapped around your thigh, was unmoving, though his chest slowly rose and fell against your backside. You tried and failed to find his comforting heartbeat in the embrace. The sheets were warm, so you concluded the source of this heat to be the ink demon himself. How he could generate so much of it despite being made of ink, you would never know, nor would you ever find out how he managed to practically turn himself into stone at will. Despite the warmth and softness of blankets attempting to lull you back into a numb, comforting sleep, you struggled in Bendy's arms as much as possible without awakening him.

At first, you thought you had succeeded; his grip slackened just enough for you to wriggle your way out, but then it turned out the ink demon was simply preparing to roll over on top of you in his sleep. You squeaked at the sudden jet-black mass threatening to crush you and darted out of the sheets as Bendy draped himself over the spot you had occupied mere seconds before. Once you got over your near-death experience and adjusted to the cool temperature outside the sheets, you blinked down at the fast asleep cartoon, brushing a hand between his long, hooked horns. His upper lip twitched at the faint touch, and a guttural, rumbling noise came from his slightly parted mouth. You couldn't tell if it was a growl or a purr, so you decided to quit acting like a creep by watching your boyfriend doze and tiptoed away from the bed, glancing at the analog clock Bendy had tried to smash all those weeks ago, sitting alongside your forlorn Bendy plush. It was about four o'clock in the morning. Great.

 Reminding yourself how oddly heavy Bendy was to refrain from returning to the sheets, you exited the bedroom. The hall was even colder. Goose pimples spread across your bare legs and arms, and you shivered, rubbing your skin to generate some kind of warmth before stepping into the bathroom to take a quick, silent, hot shower, during which you organized your now racing thoughts. Yesterday was a clusterfuck, to say the least. You had entered the studio terrified, gotten pissed, were terrified again, nearly clawed Joey's face, then left happier than usual. How strange. Even stranger than the way both Bendy and Joey had behaved. The memory of Joey's awkward expression made your stomach twinge, and faint nausea squeezed your insides. You took in a rattling breath, not making anything of it beside your lingering internal tempest, sunk down to sit on the shower floor, and rested the side of your head against the cool tile wall to soothe yourself. The wave passed and you were able to think clearly again, though you were careful not to linger on the image of Joey's wide-eyed face too much in case you puked from intense anger. He was going to fire you. You had a week. Allison was clueless. And you left your written plans behind with Boris and Alice in the studio.

Groaning, you slumped over, cheek sliding further down the slippery tiles. So much for taking a shower. It was more like you were attempting to drown yourself, something you hadn't really thought about doing in the past couple of months. You weren't the one who you wanted to drown, however. You wanted to waterboard Joey. Maybe Sammy. Or both at the same time, as Bendy liked to say. Growing tired of sitting around with hot jets of water battering your face, you stood and scrubbed yourself raw, praying to whatever god was out there that Bendy was right and Joey knew nothing of what you had done.

Unwisely, you allowed your temper to flare at the thought of him discovering your affair.  You fiercely raked your nails over your scalp, imagining it was Joey's eye sockets, then cried out, pulling your hand away to see beads of red staining your fingers and the water at your feet, mingled with suds.

Your shower had made you nothing but enraged. You blamed the hot water. Currently, you were dressed for work, in your Monday skirt and blouse, and back in the cold hallway, which was slowly heating up as the sun peeked out from over the horizon, casting a peach tinge over the cerulean sky. Pale pink and orange light glowed in the stairwell you slunk down. You hadn't checked if Bendy was awake yet, but the bedroom door was closed last time you saw it, and there were no telltale crashes coming from downstairs. You weren't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. On one hand, there would be nothing to get in the way of your morning activities and the continuation of the daily organization of your thoughts; on the other, you really wanted a purring presence to follow you around as you stumbled through sunrise.

Your want-bordering-on-need for companionship won out and the butterflies in your stomach exploded once you hopped down the last few stairs, ready to fling yourself into a waiting Bendy's arms. An empty hallway greeted you instead. You looked left, to the TV room. Then you looked right, to the sunroom. Both were empty, and bitter disappointment soured your hope. Left completely alone to your thoughts, you trudged to the kitchen to make a meal, then headed for the dining room to pick disdainfully at your breakfast of choice, telling yourself it was nothing but convenient how Joey suddenly decided to fire you on a Sunday.

When you finished your breakfast, or at least forced down as much as you could, since a particular demon's absence and his creator's threat spoiled your appetite, you retired to the couch in your TV room, absentmindedly picking at stray strings on the weathered sofa. The sunlight here wasn't as strong as in your sunroom, but you didn't much feel like moving again and it made no difference to you. The sun continued inching over the horizon, and soon four o'clock become five, then five o'clock became six, and six seven, yet you were still abandoned with your thoughts. Nothing good was coming out of your quiet time aside from anxiety and your halfhearted attempts to alleviate it. In one last try to ignore your existential dread, you searched for the TV remote and pointed it at the television. It turned on with an electric pop and an image emerged from the static. The image was Bendy, of course, haring away from whatever creature had decided to pursue him that time. There was no voice acting. It was one of the older episodes.

Almost as if the screening had summoned him, the real Bendy materialized at the foot of your stairs, looking both tired and annoyed. A feather clung to one of his horns and pale gray lined his eyes, yet your insides fluttered despite his haggard appearance. His entrance was all you needed to abandon your anxiety and the faint pain permeating your crown. If only Bendy's own wrists would stop tingling.

"Ya left me," he accused, not yet noticing the television.

"Payback for all those times you left me," you replied coolly and unfurled yourself from the sofa to sidle up against the freshly awakened ink demon, plucking the feather from his horn as you did so.

He grunted in response but didn't flinch away. "'M not the one who needs sleep. I read that humans need at least nine hours of sleep. And if I'm math-ing properly, I don't think ya got nine hours."

"And I'm not the one who pretends like sleep is stupid but does it anyway."

"It is stupid. But I like being with you, and I've nothin' better to do anyway. Humans, though," a gloved finger tapped the bridge of your nose for emphasis, "need it. Especially the dumbass ones who emotionally drain themselves for no damn reason during the day."

And before you could make a stinging retort, Bendy shoved you behind him, trilled loudly to banish his drowsiness, and took a running leap onto the sofa, whip-like tail streaming out behind him. Fearing for your couch's life, you shrieked angrily as he landed and proceeded to stretch luxuriously over the battered cushions. Your initial response was to storm over to the cooing cartoon and yank his tail as hard as you could, but you suppressed your rage and took a more tactful approach. While Bendy was busy playing pretzel and crooning to the point where it almost sounded like snarling, you slunk over to him, lip curled in a sour expression.

Bendy noticed your approach at the last moment, however, and immediately froze facedown on the sofa in the middle of rubbing his face against it in a cat-like manner. You hopped onto the ink demon's back before he could scramble away and escape.

"You asshole," you snapped, legs wrapped around his toothpick waist as he hooted with muffled laughter. "You only just woke up, and you're already acting like a dick."

"I gotta start early, y'know?" explained Bendy, hindered by but not displeased with the way you were straddling him, even if he didn't get to face you as you did so. 

"You're an ass."

"I know. You just gonna crush me or you gonna lay the fuck down?"

Having no decent reply for this, you released the devil, who then gathered you into his arms and repositioned himself on the couch. You were back in the same situation as earlier that morning, in Bendy's iron grip, your back to his chest. Even though you weren't in bed, underneath the sheets, with your pajamas on; your scratches stung again; and your uncomfortable work clothes were chafing your skin (Bendy, meanwhile, had noticed your usual Monday skirt and tugged on it while cooing interestedly, not yet aware of himself on the TV), you were mostly content. However, you doubted you would ever voice how disappointed you were when you came downstairs to a desolate hallway.

"Stop that," you snapped when Bendy moved away from your skirt to yank on the hem of your shirt.

The cartoon demon's horned head popped out from over your shoulder, and he hauled his upper body up by his hands to gaze down at you and say, "I told’ja, I've nothin' better to do."

Free from his death grip, you rolled over onto your back and scolded, "That's not true, and plus, I'm not letting you ruin my work clothes. You make a mess. You can just watch yourself on TV. You're already obsessed with yourself anyway."

"You're just in a bad mood ‘cause ya didn't sleep."

"I am not--" you started furiously but were once again interrupted, this time by Bendy clapping his hand over your mouth. Apparently, the ink demon had developed a nasty habit of doing so, and you didn't appreciate it at all.

"What are you doing?!" you screeched before his gloved hands fully covered your face, catching the briefest glimpse of Bendy's stupid, toothy grin.

"Cutting off your supply of oxygen," came his cool reply, as if suffocation was the most natural thing in the world. "So you'll go to sleep."

If you were able to scream at him for such an idiotic idea, then you would have, but you were somewhat preoccupied with Bendy draping himself over you and snickering like the dumbass he was. The tingling in your stomach was no longer welcome, but it didn't get the memo and your stomach flipped when you caught the faintest flash of Bendy's fangs as he laughed. To both you and your lungs relief, you were able to kick the ink demon off after you grabbed his tail and jerked it harshly. Bendy squealed and cartoonishly jumped about three feet into the air. You had no clue what crawled up his ass this morning to make him behave worse than usual when he had been exhausted just a few moments earlier, but you were absolutely not going to have it. The instant the devil quit hissing, you batted him away from you and rose up from the couch to storm into the kitchen. You woke up at about four in the morning, and for what?  Making your scalp bleed? Your daily panic attack? Bendy? This? Never mind the fact that you were no longer anxious over Joey, Bendy was acting like someone injected him with performance-enhancing drugs. You weren't sure if being a douche was a performance, though... You stared at your kitchen cabinets like they could offer you the answer.

In your absence, the ink demon whined in a high, grating tone, making your teeth grind as you wondered what you could busy yourself with to ignore him. 

"(Y/N)," squawked Bendy from the room you had left. "(Y/N), babe, c’mon, that was funny, I'm funny, doll, c'mon, (Y/N)..." 

"It's not funny when you nearly kill me."

"Ah, I'm just worried about'cha--"

"Suffocation is worse than sleep deprivation, Bendy!

There was a pause. "So y’admit it's sleep deprivation."

"God--no, Bendy, I just woke up early, alright, I'm sorry I left you, you clingy asshole child." 

There was another pause, then a loud purr. "I love you."

Knowing there was no way you could tune Bendy out, you stalked out of the kitchen. The ink demon's croons increased when he saw your form, and you gave him a withering look.

"If I go over there, will you calm down and act normal?"

"What's a normal?"

"Bendy--"

"Alright, fine, I will," Bendy agreed gruffly, pulling himself into a sitting position and sulkily crossing his arms.

Once you were satisfied you had broken his will, you padded over and curled up at his side, bringing your legs up off the ground to drape them over his lap. Bendy remained still and gave no acknowledgment of your presence. Rolling your eyes, you forced him to unravel his arms from his chest, then pressed your face to the area once you succeeded. He remained taut with brooding until he fixated himself on the TV, and his muscles finally relaxed. The television's effect on him could only be related to that of drugs. It made you wonder if you should ban the TV, but you quickly dismissed the idea due to the huge hissy fit Bendy would throw over it.

Bendy's sudden irritation with you disappeared alongside his tension, and the ink demon soon melted, silent, but tail swishing contentedly. You sat tracing soothing circles over his abdomen, dismissing the scratches on your head burning. You were relaxed until his thin tail froze in the corner of your eye. Confused as to why you peeled your cheek away from the demon's chest and peered up at him. Bendy gazed blankly at the TV, mouth slightly ajar, an almost dreamy expression alighting his pale face.

"I'm so sick of being pushed around," he said softly, optics flickering as he marveled at whatever had caused this sudden statement.

Even more bewildered, you followed his morose stare to the television, where his show continued to run. It wasn't the only thing running: Bendy was, too. At least, the one on the screen was. You weren't sure what he was running from, but you could vaguely remember the episode from your childhood. The Halloween special, you thought it was, meaning a sheet-ghost Boris had spooked the small cartoon.

Not knowing how to reply to the slack-jawed demon, you poked him in his side and asked, "How old are you supposed to be in the cartoons?"

"What?" said Bendy suddenly, peeling his stare away from the show when you knocked him out of his stupor. "Oh. I dunno. Nine? Ten? That's about when I stopped, uh, for lack of a better word, growing. Before I realized I could do this, I mean." He glanced down at himself for an explanation.

"Oh."

He let out an impatient sigh. "Is that all y'ave to say?"

"Now you're the one who's angry."

"I'm not angry. I'm just… sick. Of a lotta things."

"Not me, though, right?" you teased, not wanting him to have a relapse into his nasty, distant self. However annoying it was, you preferred his stiflingly affectionate and clingy self over the aloof one any day.

To your relief, he forgot about the TV and purred while clambering over you, pressing your foreheads and cheeks together and threading your fingers through his gloved ones. "Nah, I don't think I could ever get sick of ya."

You gave a soft, unintelligible murmur in reply, more concerned about how the early morning sun cast a pale pinkish-orange glow over his sleek, black horns. Bendy crooned something about how he was able to make you speechless. You breathlessly told him to shut up. Before you could really gain traction and reprove the ink demon, he draped himself on top of you, carefully making sure not to use himself as a deadweight in case you left him again, and continued to purr. 

"You shoulda stayed with me and slept," he cooed, noticing how your eyes eventually lidded over from the vibrations in his chest and warmth of being enveloped.

Your eyes snapped open, running the illusion. "I would have, but I just couldn't sleep. You should stop being clingy."

"Right," he said sarcastically. "Wanna take a 30-day sample of me not payin’ attention to ya?"

"That's not what I meant."

"Well, I'm not being clingy; I'm being nice and concerned like a good person."

That was an odd statement. Could it lead to why he had behaved so funny earlier? "You don't have to prove you're a good person to me when I already know you are, even if you act like a dick sometimes. Why do you think you have to prove that?"

A shrug answered your question, but you could tell the conversation was making Bendy aloof and uncomfortable. To compensate for his sudden mood swing (today was going to be one of those days), you slung your arms over his sloped shoulders and wrapped your legs around his waist. "Just so you know, you don't have to prove anything. I dunno what's gotten into you to make you think that, but if you want, you can come to work with me if you're being clingy. Try to keep your mind off things."

Dismissing the further, implicit inquiries on what had made him act so strange, Bendy perked up and said, "Really?"

"Yeah, it's almost time for me to go. Plus, I'm gonna go grocery shopping, so I'll be home later than usual, and I doubt you wanna be alone all day. There's nothing much to do. Unless you wanna brainstorm for Saturday night, but I think what we have is sorta set in stone since I left what I wrote down with Boris and Alice. And I don't think being alone would be good for you, either. If you're coming with me, then go get dressed. We'll be leaving in less than an hour, I think."

The ink demon took some time to process your stream of external thoughts, then blinked. "Alright."

"Good. I'm glad you're going," you told him, adding internally, Now we can both distract each other. "Go get dressed."

"Will do." Bendy slid off of you and the couch, the sunlight following him slumping to the floor. He then jerked back up, casting one last sunlit beam at you and saying, "Thanks for lettin’ me go." His voice trailed behind him as he loped to the staircase. "It'll be fun to mess with Boobs…"

And mess with  Boobs McKenzie, he did. You thought taking him with you would calm him down, but at first, you found quite the opposite was true. For some reason, he loved it whenever your co-worker would glare daggers at the two of you for placing quick pecks on each other's cheek or tapping your foreheads together (with Bendy under his hood, of course). If you hadn't disliked the blonde so much, then you would have told him to knock it off. Instead, you were perfectly content to let her deal with customers while you leaned against Bendy as he sat on a stool behind the cash register. She nearly burst into tears when Bendy grabbed the back of your head with one hand and pressed your faces together while there was a lull in consumerism. Both of your moods had greatly improved due to this, and it seemed like the overdose of PDA really had leveled out Bendy's emotions in the end. He almost forgot about his wrists continuing to tingle throughout the day and his conflation with Joey. Almost. 

Then he completely forgot about it when you took him grocery shopping with you. There, the ink demon had immediately figured out what a shopping cart was and what you could do with it, and the results weren't pretty. He nearly crashed into a display before you snatched the cart away from him. By the time you left the store (many employees looked relieved at this since they had heard about Bendy's reign of terror in the freezer aisle), it was night, stars glittering frostily above your head in the indigo heavens. The lingering warmth of the sun heated the land and faint streaks of blood orange tainted the horizon. You, alongside Bendy, were currently toting your bags into your house after unloading them from your car, though Bendy was proving to be more of a hindrance than a help. He tried stuffing all the bags into one and in the process, tore gaping holes through each, letting everything you bought tumble out to the driveway.

 "Bendy!" you howled from the sidewalk, watching as he jerked into action and hurriedly gathered everything into his arms. "I told you to take trips, Bendy! Trips! Does that not mean anything to you?!"

"Why go back and forth when you can get everything at once?" he retorted in a hiss and stumbled over to your side. His skinny legs trembled with the burden of his haul.

"Because you could get hurt," you said and tried not to lose your patience as you would have done earlier in your relationship. Besides, you didn't want him to become as overbearing as this morning in compensation for your fury. "And if you hurt yourself, then I'll hurt you."

Bendy gasped back, "Seems counterproductive, doesn't it?" then wobbled up the sidewalk to your front door.

"What's counterproductive is trying to take everything at once and spilling it," you sighed, rolled your eyes, and managed to peck his cheek despite the wall of groceries shielding most of his face.

Perhaps you could have taken some of the load from him in assistance, but then again, it was his fault he had such a burden in the first place. Instead, you spun on one heel and bounced away up your porch steps, stifling a tinkling laugh. Bendy wheezed behind you and struggled to reach your side again. You took your time searching your bag for your keys, having all the time in the world since you weren't the one with a ton of goods piled in your arms. After an ungodly amount of time, even Bendy caught onto what you were playing at, and the devil dropped everything he had been carrying. Your cries about wasted money (one of the boxes split open on impact and spoiled its contents) faltered; Bendy snarled, hoisted you up into his arms by your waist, and pinned you to the front door to keep you steady while he ferreted for your keys. A curse along with a jangle sounded, and he then scrabbled at the lock, growling softly.

You distracted the ink demon by giggling and flipping off his hood to tug on his horns, glad he was momentarily distracted and thus, unable to reprimand you. Your victory was short-lived, however; Bendy soon managed to claw open the door and his annoyed hisses turned into those of triumph. You squealed, half from laughter, half from fright when he lifted you further off the ground and swung you as he strained to deal with your weight while entering the dark foyer. The sound was infectious, and Bendy couldn't help but laugh himself and do a weak twirl with you above him.

"Ben'," you said, breathless and giddy from the swooping sensation. "Ben', put me down, seriously, you spilled pretty much everything outside and I gotta bring what I can salvage in, Ben- _dy_!"

Your voice rose an octave when he forced you down into a dip. Frankly, you didn't even know you could bend that way.

“Bendy I swear you're gonna kill me!” You shrieked, no longer joking as the blood rushed to your head and your eyes stretched to approximately the size of the moon.

“And I’m the overdramatic one. Nah, I know what I'm doing,” said Bendy pleasantly. “I just decided you're gettin’ a dancing lesson. Not ‘cause I wanna give you one; I just don't wanna pick up my mess.”

“You dork,” you spat savagely, feet swept off the floor again. “You asshole, it's not cute anymore, you aren't funny, this isn't even fucking dancing, you're tossing me around.”

“Sure it is, toots,” he replied cheekily, placing his chin on your chest and peering up at you, hilarity in his innocently rounded eyes. “We can do this all night since I didn't get to do anything today.”

“What do you mean you didn't get to go anywhere?! I took you with me so you wouldn't act like a dick!”

“I mean I didn't get to go anywhere fun. C'mon, we gotta make the most of this week before the assholes have to stay with us.”

“They aren't assholes,” you scolded, tightened your legs around his waist, and scrabbled at his shoulders; Bendy's grip was slackening and it wouldn't be fun to crumple to the floor.

“Alice, maybe not. But Boris is. I don't want him ruinin’ our fun.” Bendy then moved his hands to your hips and helped set you down gently. “We gotta finish our entire bucket list in these next few days.”

“We can do all that stuff with them, y'know,” you informed the ink demon with a sigh, face dark both from gravity’s effect and his hold on you. “You don't have to be like that.”

“But I don't like ‘em,” he whined and wound himself around you. His voice dropped to an indulgent purr. “I like you.”

Turning your back on him to gather the spilled groceries outside, you told him, “Flattering as that is, I'm gonna need you to fuck off.”

“I'd rather fuck something else,” Bendy drawled, and out of the corner of your eye you could see him lean onto your dining room table in the gloom you left behind. “Specifically, y--”

“I don't wanna hear it,” you called back through the open door crouched down on your porch, picking through your discarded groceries. “You said you wanted to do something fun? Figure out what you wanna do by the time I finish putting all this stuff away. And not sex,” you added when the cartoon cooed interestedly, thinking his unfinished statement had convinced you. “Something else. Your life doesn't revolve around your dick.”

The purrs abruptly stopped and an offended tone replaced them. “Fine, then. I'll sit outside, I guess.” 

“Alright. You can wait for me in the back, then. And keep your sweatshirt on! Remember last time? I don't want people to see you!" 

His departing figure gave no sign of hearing you, and even if Bendy did, you doubted he would obey. A sigh escaped your parted lips, and you ran your hand over your scalp, mildly irritating your self-inflicted, scabbed over scratches. There was no doubt you loved Bendy, but he was as overbearing as ever. The last scarlet streaks of sunset had dissolved by the time you finished picking through your spilled goods and putting them away. Half of your food was already ruined, but you still had a good haul. It would last you another couple of weeks. Before you had to leave your cave again. That is, if Boris and Alice didn't ruin your set up when they were here. You weren't too worried about Boris, but you had a feeling Alice would throw many temper tantrums. Suddenly overwhelmed and weary, you briefly pressed your palm to your forehead, then shut the cabinet and made your way out the back door to where Bendy was awaiting you.

Unsurprisingly, the ink demon had not heeded your warning and sat, shirtless, in the middle of your yard, tail sweeping the ground underneath him and face alight with a grin.

Like the fucking dork he was.

“Didn't I tell you to leave your clothes on?” You snapped and slunk over to him.

“I dunno,” he said, peeling his stare away from the sky to fixate his rounded eyes on you. “Why don't you take yours off?”

“No. Aren't you the least bit worried?”

“Nah,” he said, gaze following you as you crumpled to the grass at his side. “I never worry.”

“That's not really a good thing,” you told him but, nonetheless, curled up against his chest to where you fit so well. Your next words came out as a murmur, whereas Bendy was expecting a thorough scolding. “What do you think happened to them anyway?”

Knowing fully well what you were referring to, Bendy glanced over at the now widowed man’s house stood, then over to the college drunks’.

“I try not to think of it,” he admitted and leaned back, winding his arms around you to pull you down with him. “And I don't wanna think about it either, so try askin’ me something else.”

Your tone was both teasing and serious when you prodded, “Do you think Joey got to them?” 

“Ask something else.”

“Alright, fine, you fucknut. You aren't gonna tackle me like this morning if I keep talking, though, right?”

“I won't so long as ya shut up about Joey.”

“I'm not the one who stayed up all night brooding about him.”

“I told’ja, that’s not what I was doing, I read three books that night.” Three thin fingers tapped your waist for emphasis. “And anyway, you're the one who left me.”

“I couldn't sleep! And that nine hours stuff you said is only an average, people can be below or above average!” you exploded, leaping up from his side and clambering over him to put your face in his. “Why are you being so clingy?” 

Bendy, thinking it wouldn't be wise to point out how you were once again straddling him, gave nothing but a nervous grin in return. Moonlight reflected off his pearly fangs and pale face and you could barely see stars dotting his liquid obsidian eyes. A firefly flickered aside one of his horns. Huffing at his lack of a proper response, you scared off the lone lightning bug as you brought your hands up to grip his horns. Bendy still didn't think it would be appropriate to mention the position you were and shied away from your serious expression. 

“Are you sure nothing happened at the studio?” you said quietly, your warm and sweet breath sending a chill down the cartoon’s spine. “You were weird yesterday, too. Don't think I didn't notice.”

“What's wrong with being weird?” he gasped and shuffled underneath you.

“Bendy.”

“I told’ja (Y/N), it wasn't my turn. Nothing happened.”

“I know. But like you said, I'm worried about you,” you said mellowly and fiddled with the point of his horns, no longer sure what to believe. Maybe it was wrong of you to blame all his odd behavior on the studio. After all, he was (in the lightest of terms) a human, and everyone had funks from time to time, the same way everyone couldn't sleep every now and then. “But I do want you to be honest with me.” You finished by moving your hands away from his horns and slinging your arms around his neck.

Certainly not protesting about his face now being pressed against your chest, Bendy purred, glad he was in the clear and didn't have to explain how he… felt… about Joey. “I am honest. I'm better, now. I've been good. I've been doing real good.”

“Besides suffocating me.”

“You're suffocating me right now but’cha don't see me complaining.”

“And you ruined it,” you said distastefully and rolled off the ink demon, your back to his side, facing away from him. “Thanks for being gross.”

The flat side of his tail swept under your chin and made you tilt your head back to the stars. You weren't sure if you enjoyed the feeling or not, but you knew for a fact you enjoyed it when he chirred deeply and pushed himself up onto his elbows, leaned over you, and cooed, “So, since I promise I won’t cut off your precious supply of oxygen, and you’re done badgering me…”

Without letting him drone on before getting to the point, you rolled your eyes, lifted your head, and met the ink demon in the middle. He cooed luxuriously into your mouth, ending with a soft mew as he tilted himself further, teasing the forked tip of his tongue over your lips. The comforting, familiar taste of ink washed over you. You stretched one hand back to grapple his horns and his tail coiled around one of your thighs. Bendy gave another deep, rumbling purr before breaking away, tapping your foreheads together and flipping you over so that you were underneath and facing him, saying, “C'mon, you're half-assing me, d’you know how awkward it is to be in that position?”

“I'm the one who's half-assing it,” you said breathily, eyebrow raised even though you weren't looking at him, instead running your hands down his abdomen and staring at the moonwashed expanse of jet-black rising and falling with his breath. “You're the one who's an awkward pretzel.”

“You really gotta find one adjective and stick with it, toots,” he told you against your neck. 

You were barely able to stifle the violent shiver going up your spine at the feeling of his cold, soothing breath and whispered back, “Yeah, but it's just hard to pin down perfection.”

“Ah, you're joking!” he said, reeling away from your neck with one of the hugest grins on his face, eyes wide and sparkling joyfully. “You're just tellin’ me what I wanna hear, doll, I swear--”

Too overcome with delight from your out of character joke to finish his statement, the ink demon growled playfully and bowled you over, fingers and tail tip twitching. You squeaked as the two of you tumbled toward the hedge upon Bendy's impact. The force of it knocked the wind out of you, and you didn't regain your breath until you lost momentum and crumpled to the grass. Your skirt flowed through the air before draping loosely over your legs. Bendy, once more on top of you, purred to the point he couldn't even hear himself think and decided to take his sudden happiness out on you by nipping at your jawline, using enormous self-restraint to not roughly dig his fangs into your skin.

You took this as your reward for your witty remark. You knew Bendy would have appreciated it, and you certainly appreciated the results, you told yourself, jaw slack and head tilted back to the stars as he worked on your neck.

Perhaps the noise of Bendy crooning aggressively attracted some unwanted attention, because a twig cracked somewhere further along the hedge. You jerked, terrified, at the snap, remembering what happened last time you were under the stars with Bendy. The ink demon froze as well, pulled away from your nape (ignoring the slight pop and translucent black residue left behind), and sat back on his haunches to crane his neck and gape at the source of the sound.

“See anyone?” you asked in a whisper, fear replacing your ecstasy, though your legs trembled as you brought yourself up alongside Bendy.

“Nah,” he informed you slowly, eyes narrowed to slits. “No one. Doubt there would be anyone anyway, the old guy's too busy trying to kill himself half the time nowadays and I'm pretty sure the druggies aren't even aren't home.” He angled his horns to each house as he described its inhabitants.

“Right,” you said, instantly relieved. To think, after all your close calls and careful plans, someone would find out after all. Someone beside Allison, at least. Someone… volatile. “It was probably that cat.”

The ink demon grunted and draped himself over you, sensing the danger had passed (though he didn't see the silhouette of Sammy Lawrence on the other side of the hedge, cursing at the new splinter embedded in his palm). “No. Don't remind me of that damn cat.”

“Cats aren't that bad.”

“I don't like ‘em. Unless they're, like, tigers. That's cool,” he said in a near murmur, shutting his eyes and laying the side of his face over your chest as he slumped over you.

“So I should cancel my plans for getting a cat when you leave the studio and stay with me all the time?” you teased, though you weren't as easily convinced the threat of discovery had dissolved. Maybe you should go inside.

After all, there was still Sammy, down the hedge, desperately trying to glean some information from your inaudible conversation on Joey's orders since there was no longer the elusive Norman to do so.

“Yeah,” said Bendy, equally oblivious. “Get me a--” 

“Fish.”

“No. I want a dog. Or a ferret. Wait, no, get me one of those pygmy goats. I could train it to steal Boris’ food, ‘cause those fuckers are supposed to eat everything. Then maybe he'll see how it feels.”

“You're gonna have to learn how to get along with him if you're gonna stay in the same house. My place isn't as big as the studio, so it won't be as easy to get away from each other. Well, actually, I was thinking about moving after you guys all get out, ‘cause I don't want Joey coming after you. I think he'll know enough to stay away from us in the first place, but just in case--” 

“Moving?” Bendy echoed and snapped his eyes open. “Didn't you just move here last summer?”

“Well, yeah,” you confirmed uncomfortably, unsure of his reaction. “I know it's not great to do that, giving Boris and Alice barely enough time to adjust to this place then moving and having them adjust again, and I'll probably be in debt for a while, and I'll have to get a new job…” You took in a deep breath before continuing. “But I feel like it's for the best in the end. Joey won't find us at all, and hopefully, we'll have a place big enough for all four of us. Maybe I'll get a better job, too. If things go really well, then in a few years, if my debt isn't too bad, I was also thinking that maybe I could go to school, too. To get a better job and provide for us, or whatever. But mainly me. It’s not like you consume anything but cleaning supplies, anyway.”

Your in-depth plans had the ink demon quite taken aback. He had been more focused on Joey's comeuppance but after that… There were no real ideas. It was almost embarrassing. Here you were,  carefully planning everything ahead, whereas Bendy was hopelessly lost when it came to the future.

Concerned about his lack of a response, you tweaked one of the cartoon’s horns, which were eerily outlined in moonlight. “Sound good, Ben’?”

“I…” he stuttered awkwardly, having no clue where to start. “You'd do all that?”

It was your turn to be confused. “Uh, yeah. What, did you think I was gonna stay here like a sitting duck for Joey or leave you?”

“No. No, no, but, I mean…” Bendy pushed himself off your chest and peered unreadably at your face. “I mean… y’actually wanna go through this?”

“No, Bendy, this was all some elaborate joke I set up, I'm actually gonna hand you over to the cult cuck and say I was a part of it all along!” you snapped, furious he seemed to be doubting you. “Of course I'm going through with this!” 

“No,” the devil repeated, this time more serious and controlled rather than awestruck. “You want to stay with me? Even… even after I leave the studio?” 

“Um, yes,” you hissed in cautious discombobulation. “You'd think that sticking my neck out to get you away from Joey would symbolize some sort of commitment.”

“Not just that,” said Bendy; his sudden solemness making you falter. “You do realize I'm a literal demon, right? A literal cartoon?” He paused, waiting for you to speak. A simple nod answered him instead. Satisfied with your soundless response and his intense, black gaze continuing to drill holes in your head, Bendy continued, “I can't really… human… properly. I can't get a job because I look like this. I can't leave the house and walk around without coverin’ my face because of this, too. I can't get married.” He hesitated for a beat, then added. “I can't have kids. Is that what’cha want? A broke, sterile cartoon followin’ ya around?”

What he expected was for you to mumble an uneasy agreement, or even wonder aloud if you could go through with this. In reality, he received something very, very different. You let out a snarl worthy of the ink demon himself and somehow managed to roll over and force him down on his back, you now on top of him.

“You fucking asshole!” you cried, gritting your teeth. “I'm not shallow; I don't care about things you can offer me, I just care about you!” Only just then processing his shocked expression at your reaction, you leaned over him and cupped the sides of his narrow face in your hands, continuing softly, “You don't think I knew all of that already? It's fine. And this…” you swiped your thumbs over his cheekbones like he had done to you so many time before. “It's just who you are.”

Without a word, the ink demon stared at you, wide-eyed, and put his own hand over one of yours. Then, pulling it away from his cheek, he threaded his fingers through yours and broke into a stupid grin.

“You idiot,” you said, relieved at the sight of his enormous starlit smile. “I'm supposed to be the serious one. Whenever you try it, you come across as a prick.”

“I always come off as one to you.” 

“You do,” you agreed, brushing your lips against his. “And just so you know, I never really wanted kids. We'll have Boris and Alice, anyway.”

“Those’re some pretty shitty kids.”

“No, you're just determined to not like them, for whatever reason,” you observed and shimmied off of him to lay on back at his side, watching the stars. “But they'll be fine, especially if you help. Surprisingly enough, you're actually a good teacher. At least, you were patient with me.”

“Because I actually like you. I don't really like either of them.”

“You gotta try. And try to remember these three things: you don't have to prove anything; I like you for you, not what you have to offer me, and if you suffocate me ever again I'm reporting you to the police, and attempted asphyxiation is a reportable offense, this time.”

“That's dramatic,” complained Bendy. “Why’re you being so dramatic?”

You thought it would be best not to answer in case you started an argument with him. Bendy, thinking he had won due to your lack of a response, crooned and curled around you, though he made sure to keep one eye on the stars the entire time. Warmth the sun left behind leached out of the midnight landscape, making your hairs stand on end. You shuffled closer to Bendy to see if he was generating any of the heat you felt that morning. A purr responded to you, and the ink demon rubbed his cheek against yours, but there was no heat. Other than that, being out so long without Bendy being hooded was getting to your head, and there was also the twig snapping from earlier… You strained to hear anymore telltale rustling, but you were unable to tell if it was the breeze or another being. You traced a thoughtful circle over Bendy, glanced up at his face to find him staring contentedly up at the heavens, then made your decision.

“Let's go inside,” you spoke up, tapping a finger on his chest.

“What?” Bendy said, suddenly aware of your presence. “Why?”

“It's getting pretty late and cold. I don't wanna get sick or anything. And if you come inside with me now, I promise I'll stay with you.”

Bendy froze in the middle of synthesizing his rebuttal. “Really?”

“Yes, you clingy asshole child.”

“Then let's go,” he crooned simply, arms still around your waist as he raised his head and heaved himself to a standing position. “But you gotta get me a book on constellations, too. I wanna learn ‘em all, and then instead of goin’ to the beach or a volcano we can go to North Dakota or wherever and look at the actual stars,” he told you in a grunt, struggling to walk while carrying you back inside.

“Right,” you said and grabbed his horns, which wasn't really helpful. “Or we can move there. If it's not too expensive. But now, I have to eat, and if you want we can edit the list. Then I promise I'll stay with you.”

“You better,” he said and finally opened the door, though he almost hit the back of your head on the frame.

After you ate and pored over your crinkled bucket list with Bendy, you retired to bed, exhausted. Waking up early really had done a number on you. You took your Bendy plush with you under the sheets, much to the real ink demon’s distaste, but he said nothing, coiled himself around you, and pureed while putting an ungloved hand through your hair. You hoped the cartoon wouldn't feel the scratches on your scalp, just as he hoped you wouldn't see the faint line over his wrists. Luckily, neither of you discovered each other's wounds, and your breathing slowed to the cartoon’s unnatural rate until you fell into another dreamless sleep at his side, just as Sammy Lawrence burst out of your neighbor's hedge in escape from a yowling, wild tabby cat.

* * *

 Joey Drew leaned against a shadowed doorframe, watching Boris hum to himself while shuffling through a respectable amount of papers. The wolf had not noticed his creator's presence in the shadows behind him, too caught up in whatever he was shuffling through and nodding at. Joey was too far too see exactly what the notes contained or who wrote them, though he wasn't very concerned about the papers. He simply thought it was funny how if Bendy was in the wolf’s place, he would have instantly sensed Joey's presence and darted away, whereas Boris wouldn't have realized if World War III broke out under his nose. Alice Angel… well, Joey doubted Alice would be reading in the first place. Even if it was odd, handwritten notes.

Drew craned his neck forward, suddenly achingly curious as to what exactly the notes contained. They were probably some stupid scripts Boris found, but then again, Joey hated not knowing things. Boris still did not see the animator, even though he had mostly emerged from the gloom. A few shadows still cut across his narrow face, just in case he needed to make a hasty retreat. It was mind-boggling how oblivious Boris was and how much that contrasted to Bendy. Boris had mellowed in his age, going from a snarling mutt to the perfect lap dog (apart from his size). Bendy, on the other hand, had only gained traction in his anger, going from hiding in air vents to get away from Boris to shoving the wolf into said air vents while spitting furiously. 

And yet, however different they ended up, neither of them understood. Along with her ability to read, Joey Drew also doubted Alice really understood. She was doing nothing but looking for a vent for her fury, nevermind what tasks she was assigned in the meantime. Then again, hadn't a vent for Joey been the beginning of all this?

Before Joey could play the “What Would Henry Say” game, Boris flipped through another paper in his packet, head bobbing and tail now wagging furiously. The cold hunger for knowledge once again washed over the animator. He wasn't sure why, but he deeply wanted to snatch the sheets out from Boris’ hand and tear through them. Although, they could be nothing but old, discarded scripts from the show. Joey decided that if this was true, then he would rip the pages in two out of disappointment and leave the cartoon canine to fret over the pieces. It was time to see what was making Boris so excited.

Stepping fully out of the darkness, Joey Drew brought himself up to his full, imposing height (though the effect always faded when people realized how awfully lanky he was) and said to Boris, “What are you doing?” 

Boris yelped, jerked, and papers fluttered from his gloved hands and scattered across the floor. Joey only caught the swiftest glance of a vaguely familiar handwriting on them before Boris regathered them in his arms, his ears flat.

“N-Nothing,” he whined, terrified at the sight of his creator. “Just reading.”

“Reading what?”

The wolf’s eyes widened even further when Joey asked. “Nothing specific!” 

“Then why don’t you just let me see?” 

“Oh, no, I’d really rather not--”

“Boris--”

“It's nothing, Joey, I promise!”

“Then let me see, Boris--”

“No! It's fine!”

“Boris, let me see the papers!”

“No!”

Joey Drew snarled, not unlike Bendy, and tensed as he prepared to lunge for the notes. Boris scrambled away from the suddenly intense animator, though he was unable to escape his advance. Then, offering him a way out, Sammy Lawrence came stumbling down the hall from which Joey came, gasping for air, blood oozing down a fresh scratch above his eyebrow. Joey's attention immediately shifted from his creation to his right-hand man, allowing Boris to flee. He darted down another hallway, yelping, papers crinkling in his fists. Joey let out a grumbling sigh while watching the wolf scamper away, then faced Sammy, who was fighting for breath and leaning against the frame Joey had previously occupied.

“This had better be good,” he spat, annoyed by the musician's interruption and not at all concerned about his haggard appearance. “Did you see anything?”

“Besides the tonsil hockey?” gasped Sammy sarcastically. “No, nothing. Why didn't you just send Norman, like you usually do?”

Suddenly unable to look him in the eye, Joey turned away and snapped, “I sent _you_ , Lawrence. I expected _you_ to do this.”

“Why?”

He was being insubordinate. Perhaps his conditioning was wearing off, or it could simply be an outlet for whatever happened to him. “So you heard nothing?”

Finally regaining his breath, Sammy straightened up, wiped the blood from his brow, and fixated Joey with his deadened optics. “Nothing. My apologies.”

Joey grunted in grudging acceptance of his apology, then turned toward him again. “Fine. I expect you to try again, however. Norman is currently… unable to fulfill his own post. You have to stand in for him, but only for this one week. Remember, the final ritual will begin Sunday, then on Monday, we can do a mass conversion. The book is nearly done. I expect you to prepare for this, too.”

“Yes, sir,” said Sammy, back to his usual cold, accepting self. 

“I want everyone to be there for the conversion. _Everyone_.”

“Of course, sir.”

“And I don't just mean the employees. They won't be hard to keep overnight, anyway, you can spread the word with Allison that I'm requiring everyone to stay for a… company event. To keep up morale after ‘firing’ (Y/N). Other than them, you have to return those who wandered to their place. Call Thomas Connor. Tell him I need a few repairs to be done and ask if he could help do a few maitenance runs with Wally, as well. He'll come. He likes gossiping with Shawn too much. Susie shouldn't be too hard. She’s desperate for news. She'll be a valuable asset to us; I already mentioned some of my ideas to her while she was working here. If any other workers get cold feet, convince them to stay, or send them to me. We _will_ complete the book.” Then, more to himself, Joey said softly, “And the dreams will come true.” Clearing his throat, he raised his voice again, back to his brusque tone, he added, “Understand?”

“Yes,” answered Sammy, though he continued standing in place.

“Good. Now what are you waiting for?” said Joey suspiciously.

“You said everyone. That wasn't everyone.”

“Meaning…?”

“What about Henry?”

A bolt went down Joey's spine at the man's name. He wasn't sure whether to be furious that Sammy dared utter his name or cowed by his memories, so his voice came out as a strangled, confused squeak. “What of him?”

“Would you like for him to be present as well, or…?” Sammy trailed off as deep red blotches appeared on Joey's cheeks.

“I would,” said Joey finally, recovering his cool mask. “But I can take care of him. Now, you go with Allison and spread the news. Report back to me afterward. This can also be a good way of testing Allison's loyalties. She's too close to (Y/N), though hopefully after the sacrifice and the following conversion she'll get over it. I know you wanted (Y/N) to join us instead of being an offering, but you can have Allison instead. It'll make up for Norman, too. I also know how you were, well, fond of him.”

“Thank you, sir. But what exactly happened to Nor--?”

“Go!” ordered Joey, cutting off Sammy Lawrence's inquiry. “Recruit everyone, then keep filling Norman's post. Find out as much as you can. They should have no idea about this particular event, but I don't doubt that Bendy has told (Y/N) more than she should know.” An ugly look passed over his face at the mention of the relationship keeping Bendy from fulfilling his destiny (Joey didn't understand why the ink demon didn't want to be powerful, perfect, special, a _star_ ). “Go!”

At this last boom, Sammy scrabbled away to find Allison, blinking gooey blood out of his eye. Joey didn't realize how much his anger had billowed until the musician left him stewing in it. Sucking in a breath and decompressing, Joey slumped down the other hall to where Boris had fled. There was no sign of the wolf now, and thus, no sign of any papers. The animator clenched his hands into fists and stalked to his office. He lamented the loss of the papers, though he wasn't sure why. They could hardly be of importance. Right?

Finally, his office door came into view, and the animator ducked inside the shadowed room. There were other things to worry about aside from Boris’ literary pursuits.

Like Henry.

Caught in a sudden wave of inspiration, Joey Drew dove into his chair, ignoring the glass crunching under his feet, turned on his lamp, and yanked open his cabinets to hastily paw around the many files. He shuffled around them for a few more moments, then, after jamming his hand into one folder, withdrew a yellow postcard. Joey let it flutter to his desktop and searched for a pen. He also pulled out his precious, ink-stained photograph. With an almost manic glance at the photo where Henry's face should have been and not a blurred mess of ink, Joey brandished his new pen and scribbled hastily on the card.

But he only got as far as “Dear Henry” before pausing.

The sudden burst of hot excitement imploded. All the things Joey had been asking himself over the years flooded him in a sea of doubt, and he _hated_ it. The animator now had his chance to play the “What Would Henry Say” game.  What would Henry say about bringing cartoons to life and torturing them (even if it was, in Joey's twisted perspective, for the greater good, proof of deities)? What would Henry say about sacrificing a teenage female just because she was in love with his creation, and Joey thought that such an offering to the gods would finally make his experiments turn out, well, less inky? Joey really did feel this was for the best. His creations would be gods. He had the key to immortality, to cure all diseases, and perhaps even his own heartache. There would be no need for earthly things such as relationships when he was the creator of literal gods.

Joey had learned that, and Bendy needed to, as well.

Putting down his pen, hollow after the tumultuous emotions ripping through him, Joey Drew sat back, running a spindly hair through his disheveled hair, and spent the rest of the night internally justifying his actions with twisted logic while scratching at the star-like chunks of glass on his picture frame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're buying stars to shut out the light. We come alone and alone we die, and no matter how hard you try, I'll always belong in the sky.
> 
> And you could buy up all the stars, but it wouldn't change who you are.
> 
> You're still living life in the dark; it's just who you are.
> 
> It's just who you are.


	29. Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You are the bird whose soft wings came  
> When I cried out at night, waking from sleep  
> Cried only with my arms, because your name  
> Is like a chasm, a thousand long nights deep
> 
> -Rainer Maria Rilke, "The Guardian Angel"
> 
> (Warning because the author is a disgustingly kinky fuck)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah
> 
> It's been forever since I updated
> 
> Guess I lied again when I said this update wouldn't take long and would be short (I didn't even get to all the scenes I wanted to and had to push them over to the next chapter)...
> 
> Uh, so, sorry about that, again, it's really hard to churn out 10,000 word chapters every week, especially now that it's exam season at school and I have to study for those. Did I mention that I'm pretty sure I failed three classes this past quarter? Yeah. This past month has been exhausting for me, so please forgive the extremely late update.
> 
> But HEY, now everyone gets to know what a disgusting, kinky fuck I am! This is actually nasty! I'm an awful person! :D
> 
> C'mon, y'all can't blame me, I had to squeeze my gross kinks in somehow, and considering this is our last hurrah before next chapter... *looks over shoulder* Bite me.
> 
> God, I'm so disgusting, god, I can't believe I'm publishing all my kinks in one neat little (not really, this is a clusterfuck, and a LARGE one at that) chapter, why am I doing this, etc.
> 
> Someone remove me from the gene pool :)
> 
> Also, aside my horrible grades and failure to be a decent human being, I rushed this so it would be published before Chapter 4 comes out (I'm also really worried about how the updates are gonna change the story of BATIM :/), so sorry. It's gonna be riddled with errors, I'm warning you before hand, so don't hurt me.
> 
> Kinky, poorly written sex for all
> 
> Fuck me, why am I like this...
> 
> Again, I'm so sorry this took forever for me to finish.
> 
> Enjoy my nastiness on screen

The setting sun cast a brilliant golden haze upon the land at the end of Friday, the heat growing as the week passed. A hot, charged humidity lay thick in the Spring air, along with the heavy scent of blossoms. Many retreated into their homes, away from the sticky weather, appreciating the end of the week but not the warmth. A stray dog whined and slumped down one of these uninhabited streets, so far unable to find decent shelter. Parched, the canine licked its jowls and pitifully raised its head. It picked out a handful of inviting homes in the distance where it could reside undiscovered. Heat lines rose off of the asphalt, somewhat hindering its sight, but the shelter wasn't too far away.

 

Deciding its cracked paws would have to bear a few more paces, the dog scampered toward the nearest of these dwellings. Pebbles embedded themselves in the pads of the dog's paws, and a few streaks of blood lined the asphalt it traveled over. Agony seared through its entire leg at the foreign particles in the canine's wounds. The heat was particularly unbearable, burning the infected flesh, though the dog told itself it would soon have soothing grass underneath its feet again. Inspired by the reassurance, the stray broke into a run, barreling toward its house of choice. Chips of asphalt flew at the sudden movement and it skidded over them, but the fresh scrapes did nothing to hinder the dog. It was oblivious to the waves of pain and everything else around it.

 

Tunnel-visioned, the canine leaped over the curb, relieved to be off the smoldering street, and loped across the house's yard. There was a tear in the fencing underneath the porch,  just wide enough for the dog to wriggle through. It hurriedly slipped into the shade, then, whimpering one last time, collapsed on top of the cool, sunlight-deprived earth. A small pool of water collected at the edge of the space underneath the porch, but the dog did not move, wanting to thoroughly relish the discovery of such a wonderful hideout. Its cracked tongue lolled in the dirt, the usually bitter taste sweet in light of the dog's dizzying relief.

 

As the canine straightened up to lick its pus-filled scratches, a howl from above tore through its relief. Unaware that the sudden screech was coming from inside the home and not directed toward itself, the dog jerked into action, bursting out of its temporary shelter. The small entrance clawed the stray's hollowed sides as it desperately scrabbled at the ground, then, eventually freeing itself, it hared away from the assault, knowing deep down there would never be a true home for it in the entire lonely world.

 

Hollers continued ringing throughout the home it had fled. The fight started out as something simple. First, a mother had desperately tried explaining to her son why the avian he cared for so much couldn't possibly stay with him. The boy was selectively deaf when it came to her logical arguments, however, and demanded justice. Then her husband, off from work, overheard her impatient rebukes and jumped into the fray as he pleased, furious there was a family affair he knew nothing of. Now the childish "la la la I'm not listening" had escalated into uncharted territory: there was far more to the screaming than some helpless little bird that somehow plopped into their home one day. It served as a catalyst for this, yes, but not as the subject.

 

The poor creature of a mother was sick of the life she had been leading.

 

And her husband did not like her mutiny one bit.

 

After going around in circles with the man, their child stuck awkwardly and tearfully between the two, the mother slammed her hand onto a nearby countertop. It stung, but it wasn't a bad feeling.

 

She was glad to be feeling anything at all when a certain numbness enfolded her.

 

"Fine," said the mother, breast heaving, face flushed and eyes glittering strangely. "I'm sick of this. I'm done. The way you've been acting is wrong. I'm not going to sit around and let you play dictator anymore."

 

"Then what are you going to do?" sneered the father, too shocked by the unforeseen turn of events to even raise a hand toward his wife. "What will you do?"

 

"I'm done," she repeated and straightened with a fierce dignity. "I'm leaving."

 

Right when he thought nothing else could take him back, the father was mistaken and echoed dimly, "Leaving?"

 

"Leaving," snarled the exhausted woman breathlessly. "I told you. I'm done. This is not how I want to spend my life. This is not what I wanted."

 

The man's notoriously short temper flared again, his voice rising. "Then what did you want?! You know what, I don't care what you want! Where will you go? You have nowhere! Nowhere!"

 

"I have anywhere but here," she answered disgustedly, and, acting upon her promise, the mother stormed away, past her delusional, abusive husband and toward the entrance hall.

 

The father stared after her, dumbstruck, then came to his senses and bellowed as he pursued his wife. Only then did their terrified child dare make a movement in the absence of his parents and follow, trembling violently from head to toe. Whatever happened would be his fault. All he could hope for was that his father wouldn't search for the detonated time-bomb, the source of this explosion...

 

He peered around the corner at the front door, where the argument had migrated with far more passion than before. His other two siblings watched from afar as well, at the foot of the staircase. The yelling beckoned their nosy, wide-eyed selves. The middle child scowled, attention temporarily drawn away from the screaming match to grumble about the trifling of his siblings. They wanted to see what happens. He wanted some companionship in a broken bird.

 

So much for that idea.

 

The threat of loneliness hung above the middle child, far greater than the usual sadness he shared with his mother. She was threatening to leave, which meant he would be completely abandoned. The subconscious conclusion didn't register until his mother repeated her promised exodus to her husband and snatched the car keys and her wallet off a nearby end table. Startled into action, the middle child scrambled out of the kitchen and around the corner, arms outstretched and fingers splayed in thin air.

 

He didn't beg his mother to stay, to care for him and bow to her husband.

 

He said, "Take me, too! Please, take me with you!"

 

The mother had been too busy snapping at her distressed husband to process what her child had said, but when she did, she stared at him as if he had grown a second head. In reality, he grew both a second and a third -- his siblings had crept up behind him and stared pleadingly at their mother, adding their silent input to the middle child's request. The mother already had one hand on the doorknob. Her husband was shocked into silence, transfixed, eyes bulging.

 

Then the mother threw open the exit and a hot breeze swiftly carried her down the sidewalk.

 

For a moment, her children were just as dumbstruck as their father. Not a word of acknowledgment had slipped out from their mother's quivering lips, not a glimmer of pity or uncertainty, only a cold, dark detachment sending a dagger through their tiny hearts, which didn't even seen to be beating anymore. The breath they didn't know they were holding escaped in a gasp, then a wail when the car engine roared to life, their mother inside.

 

As well as the three children, the sound awakened their father, who balled his hands into fists and screeched out the door, "Go, then! You have nowhere! You think you can just leave? Fine! And I never want to see you again, even when you come crawling back to me! Go! Just go!"

 

The mother didn't reply to her husband or children's screaming over the car's rumbles and shifted into reverse, backing out of the driveway. When their cries increased, when the neighbors walked out of their home to watch the commotion, when her eyes grew hot and blurred over, she did not acknowledge the emptiness awakening inside of her, but as she turned her head toward the sunset, she knew the void only meant well for her. She transcended the realm in which she had been trapped, and the scarlet sunset enveloped her in the search for new meaning.

 

You too stared out at the heavens, though from the window in your stairwell, not your car windshield, and you were content with your life for the time being. The window was open, letting the sultry breeze gust against your face. You wrinkled your nose against the musky smell of late spring and turned away from the dying sunlight, then continued slinking down the steps. The only reason why you had opened all the windows in the first place was that your air conditioning had decided to splutter out (wonderful timing, by the way, thank you, technology) and you had to get airflow somehow, but so far such an archaic method of ventilation was proving to be unhelpful. You had also changed outfits after opening everything upstairs. No longer in your stifling work clothes, you wore a simple ratty t-shirt... and that was about where it ended. Aside from your underwear, of course.

 

Over the banister, you caught a glimpse of Bendy draped over the couch in your living room in the boxers and white shirt he always wore under his jeans and hoodie, unfazed by the heat. Temperature, though he could feel it, was no hindrance to him, or so he told you. The only thing that had bothered him throughout the week was your upcoming -- for lack of a better word -- date on Saturday night, which was tomorrow exactly, but you had kept him occupied enough up until this point. It wasn't as if you had kept your cool, either. Your nausea was the first thing to greet you every morning, but you had to remain calm for yours and Bendy's sake. You also didn't want Bendy fussing over you when he found out you spent the first seconds of sunrise heaving over your toilet, especially considering his reaction to your lack of sleep on Monday.

 

To recap the rest of the week, the two of you had gone bowling on Tuesday, and despite being awful at it, you had fun watching the ink demon nearly drop a ball on his foot; to the mall on Wednesday, where Bendy managed to drag you into one of those stupid photo booths and take even stupider pictures (the machine had been jammed at first, but after Bendy kicked it, it shot out nearly a hundred copies of the same photo reel. They all currently lay on the dresser in your shared room, alongside your Bendy plush); finally, on Thursday, you skived off of work to give him a tour of the city during the day. Bendy thought it looked much cleaner then, and you had to agree, but you were also silently happy there was no threat of a college douche sneering at you from a shifty alleyway. However, Bendy had later tried sneaking into a sports stadium in the heart of the city while a game was happening. Security had quickly foiled his attempt and threw the cartoon back out to where you furiously awaited him.

 

"Why did you that? You could've gotten your hood thrown off! You don't even know anything about sports!" you scolded him afterward, dragging him along the sidewalk, but it was to no avail, for Bendy had turned on you with his familiar, lazy,  fanged grin and half-lidded obsidian eyes.

 

"Yeah, but it coulda been fun," he had reasoned. "We coulda threw stuff at people and had sex in the public bathroom."

 

You refused to talk to him for the rest of that day.

 

Today, on the other hand, you had been perfectly happy to cuddle up against his skinny side before work and trace the stark line between black and white underneath his chin to force unwilling purrs out of him. You were unable to do so during work since you had to make up for skipping yesterday, much to your disappointment.

 

Descending the last step, you told yourself you now had plenty of time to do as you pleased with the ink demon, never mind your plans for tomorrow. Bendy wouldn't appreciate it if you rambled about every single last detail of your plan when he had already memorized it.

 

What he did appreciate was the sight of your partially clothed self at the foot of the stairs.

 

The devil's thin tail immediately stiffened and his eyes gleamed interestedly as a deep croon vibrated in the back of his throat.

 

"Oh, stop it," you snapped over the rumbling noise, crossing your arms over your chest. "You're only doing that because I'm wearing next to nothing."

 

"Not true," Bendy protested weakly, though his gaze continued glittering while watching you pick your way over to him.

 

Haughtily, you huffed and nestled yourself into the sofa at his side. "It is."

 

"Nah. You're always pretty," he purred in a voice that just oozed in flattery.

 

Putting on your very best unamused expression, you faced him with your head tilted as it lay on the top of the couch cushion and replied in a flat voice, "Very convincing."

 

"You are," insisted Bendy, his cooing voice abandoned, cocking his own horned head so that his vision was level with yours. "I just dunno how to word stuff most of the time. But you are. And I like you. You 'n your stupid human face."

 

That was about as close as the ink demon would ever get to say you were drop dead gorgeous. With an eye-roll, you accepted his awkward compliment and put a hand over the one he had raised to your cheek. Bendy purred again, careful to maintain his composure, and brought your face to his. However odd he had acted during the week between suffocating you and sneaking into sports stadiums, you melted into him, no further incentive needed. A muggy breeze creeping in from a nearby window to brush against your face reminded you how hot you already were without Bendy's thumb slowly tracing your cheekbone and icy breath seeping into your mouth.

 

You broke away from him just as his the forked tip of his tongue flickered over your lower lip and said gently, lacking conviction, “You do realize that it would be better to do this after Saturday, right?”

 

“Better?” he retorted, equally soft but still scornful. “I’d rather not have sex in the same house Boris and Alice’re in. Would you?”

 

“That's not what I mean. Like, celebration, congrats, you're not Jesus anymore. Remember when I told you I’d pick a birthday for you? It's not summer yet, but I'm picking the day after tomorrow.”

 

“That's fine, we'll do somethin' then, too, but right now is for luck,” explained Bendy. “Happy early birthday to me.”

 

“Or we could talk about every single last detail of tomorrow night--”

 

“No,” the ink demon said, cutting you off.  "I haven't gotten to do shit with ya all week.”

 

“That's not true, we've done plenty this week--”

 

“Ah, y'know what I mean,” the ink demon groaned dramatically and ghosted his hand down from your cheek to your bare thigh, swinging you half onto his lap.

 

Your tone went from faintly teasing to moony in a matter of seconds. “No, I don't know,” you said, tilting your head back and to the side to let his cool breath puff over your already feverish skin. “What _do_ you mean?”

 

Bendy's shimmering jet-black eyes, knowing exactly what you were doing, glanced up at you going slack-jawed on top of him. “Sorta hard to explain. Want a demonstration?”

 

“Sure,” you whispered back, and Bendy immediately leaped at the opportunity.

 

Kitchen knife incisors sunk gently yet firmly into your neck and his arms wrapped around your midsection. Wasting not a second of time, Bendy rolled his skinny hips forward, pressing his face into your nape and growling softly. A pale gray bloomed over his hollow cheeks, and although there was nothing then, it wouldn't be long before you would be able to feel a bulge against your thigh. Your hands splayed over his shoulders, then slid under his white shirt, down his curved back. You arched yourself as far as possible into Bendy with a barely audible moan and pressed your lips to the side of his horns.

 

The ink demon broke away from your neck to toss his head back fleetingly before meeting your gaze. His fingertips on your hips could have bruised you if he applied extra pressure. Purring at the sight of your flushed self (it was a stiflingly hot day already, but adding this to the mix...), Bendy's tail replaced his hand so that he could pull you toward him by the back of your head, fingers threaded through your hair. The fading scratches on your scalp prickled uncomfortably with Bendy being at such close-quarters, but you didn't pay any mind to them and slid your hands away from the devil's back, down his chest, to his abdomen. Why he chose to wear a shirt _today_ of all days…

 

After opening his mouth and curling his tongue underneath yours, Bendy broke away with a pop, fixated his lips to your collarbone, then tugged at the hem of your shirt while his tail-tip swept over your waistline. You compliantly raised your arms when he lifted the bothersome clothing up and over your head, letting it crumple to the floor. The contrast between his cold breath over your chest and the late spring heat made your vision swim. His cool, minty breath did nothing to help; sweat slicked your skin even where the ink demon panted.

 

“Y’know, you don't me to tell ya that you're pretty,” said Bendy gruffly in between light kisses down your front and the occasional buck of his hips. “‘M not your self-esteem boost, ‘cause ya shouldn't need a self-esteem boost.” Blinking a few times so his eyes wouldn't flit into the cheesy hearts he loathed, he looked up at you, put another soft kiss on your collarbone, and said, “You're beautiful. And I love you.”

 

A sudden swooping, passionate affection for the ink demon wrapped around your waist overcame you, and you flung your arms over his shoulders, gathering him into your shaky grip, and replied in weak happiness, “I love you, too. Oh my god, I love you too, Ben'--” You cut yourself off to pepper kisses over his horns again; it wouldn't surprise you if you passed out from joy.

 

You weren't sure where such a strong reaction came from, but you really, really loved this stupid ink demon underneath you who was huffing and growling at your chest in his face and lips against his horns. He angled them away from you when you began rubbing your thumbs over the hooked points. Your arms fell away from his face, back to his abdomen, and your lips met again. The ink demon too was immensely happy that you had accepted his compliment when he usually neglected any verbal acknowledgments of your beauty, preferring to show rather than tell, but he hid his swelling heart well and swiped his tongue over your teeth. He also pulled off his gloves and bowtie quickly as to not miss any chance to run his fingers down your sides.

 

You were overwhelmingly eager and far too pleased with Bendy giving you an honest-to-goodness, crystal clear remark, actually _communicating_ with you. In fact, you were so pleased that you decided to show this by slipping a single hand below the band of his boxers.

 

A mew escaped Bendy and into your mouth, his entire body curving at the sudden touch. You could tell why, too. You touched what was between a solid and liquid, almost gelatinous in feeling. The cartoon was apparently having trouble maintaining a definite shape, and forming one was something entirely different. You pulled away from his face, somewhat amused by Bendy practically melting but more so impatient about how he wasn't forcing you face down on the sofa yet. Then whatever remark you had mentally concocted faded on the tip of your tongue at the sight of him.

 

Ink poured down his body in sheets, causing black splotches to appear on his otherwise pristine shirt. You would have fussed over him making a mess of himself if it weren't for the look he fixated you with. Face darker gray than you had ever seen it, he curled his lip, glanced down to his lap, then back at you. His eyebrow was raised despite the soundless snarl over his features, as if asking you, _Well? Whaddya staring at, doll?_

 

"You okay?" you said, a lopsided, shy smile accompanying your inquiry.

 

In response, Bendy shuffled underneath you, rocking himself against your hand, and growled, "Fine. This damn heat is fucking with me. What, ya think I've ED or some shit? Hell no." Then, trying to relax, a sudden burst of inspiration hit him over his horned head. If you had liked one simple compliment earlier, why not take it a little further...?

 

His sneering voice dropped to an indulgent coo, and Bendy dispelled some of his tension by leaning forward and whispering, "So why don't 'cha be a good girl and help me out instead'a sittin' on me looking pretty, babe?"

 

Now it was your turn to raise your eyebrows up to the ceiling and turn about a thousand different shades of red. Bendy, letting out a husky, growling laugh underneath you, noticed your sudden helpless uncertainty at his disarming remark, the remark that made your legs shake and heart rate spike to an alarming level and _goddammit_ you loved his voice -- as cold and smooth as ice -- when it told you how very good you were at doing such a bad thing.

 

Purrs ragged in his throat, the ink demon raised one arm upon which to rest his head. His other free hand lazily traced up and down the inside of your thigh. Goosebumps spread over your skin despite the warmth outside and between your legs. Although Bendy was a sopping mess, his gooey length hardened in your hand, yet it was far from being fully solid. Maybe if you played into the devil's goading you would be able to get another verbal note of approval, some of the direct attention and adoration you had been so severely lacking in until this relationship. It was difficult to wheedle such statements out of Bendy.

 

But that didn't mean he neglected you. No, his clingy self was quite the opposite.

 

For some reason, you just received immense satisfaction from Bendy encouraging you to continue whereas the rest of society recoiled from such an affair so disgustedly.

 

It was their anathema.

 

And your new way of not giving a single fuck about what people thought anymore.

 

Squeezing his cock in your hand as you slowly stroked it from the base to the tip, you brought your mouths together again when a low growl rumbled in his chest. Your reward for finally rubbing the cartoon demon down was him forcing his tongue down your throat and hooking your panties with the spade tip of his tail. The ink droplets rolling down his face smeared on yours, and his shirt, soaked all the way through, stained your chest as well. Bendy briefly dipped his head to drag his tongue underneath your breasts, leaving a translucent black streak behind to match.

 

You pecked him between his horns, then near the hooked tip, moving all the way down to his collarbone to his shirt. A purr and murmur of approval in your ear urged you on, so you splayed your other hand over his stomach, under his shirt, then lifted it. The cartoon, instead of yanking it off, bit down into the fabric as you raised it to his face, tilting his head back to pull his shirt further up. You decided not to fight him about taking the drenched rag off altogether and slid off his lap to the floor, kissing his abdomen as you went.

 

Your hand slipped away from his still viscous but slowly stiffening length to spread over his thigh. Tail tip twitching over your shoulder, Bendy watched you carefully, unable to speak with the fabric between his fangs. You narrowed your eyes back at him and pressed your lips against the outline in his shorts. He gave no reaction besides continuing to stare at you and folding his thin arms behind his head. Even when you grazed your teeth over him, dragged your tongue over his entire length, sucked him through the clothing with such vigor it left wet marks, he remained blank as a slate.

 

Before your awkwardness could return in the absence of any affectionate croons, you tugged at the edge of his soaked briefs, pulling them down to his knees so he could kick them off and across the room. They hit the TV and made it tilt dangerously. You twisted to glance at the clothing as it made its mark, then turned back to Bendy, sharp with disapproval. He raised an eyebrow at you and grinned through the fabric.

 

 _Not my fault,_ he seemed to be saying. _Just an accident. Definitely didn't mean to almost break your TV._

 

To keep things moving, he unfurled his arms and brought his hands to the back of your head, rolling his hips forward invitingly. You would have preferred more reassuring trills of affection from him, but, figuring Bendy had chosen to be mute for the time being and not wanting to stall any longer, you put your lips so close to his cock that he could feel every labored breath of yours on him, though not close enough to touch. Impatient, stifled grunts greeted your tease, but unlike the last time you did this, the ink demon didn't force his entire length down your throat and jerkily buck into you. He awaited your touch. It would be worth it when your lips closed around him.

 

Glancing up, you saw his oddly adorable heart-eyes shimmering down upon you. The sun had recently set over the horizon, and day turned to night, though a few streaks of amber-red stained the distant heavens. They cast a faded goldenrod and burgundy glow over the droplets speckling Bendy's lanky body.

 

However beautiful he claimed you to be, you knew nothing would compare to the handsome ink demon bathed in the death of a sunset, the deep colors bleeding through the ink that comprised him.

 

Something that gorgeous ought to be practically worshipped, so you finally suckled at the base of his half-hardened cock. His tail and toes curled; you could only imagine how his snarl would sound if it wasn't muted.

 

You could only imagine all the things he could be telling you right then.

 

You reared back, dragging your lips all the way to the tip, which was the least solidified area. After a few concentrated sucks on his cock, you dipped your head back down to take as much in your mouth as possible. You were still unsure if you enjoyed the mingled taste of ink and cum hitting the back of your throat. You took him to the hilt and gave a drawn out suck to find out, but all you determined was that he was certainly not having trouble staying rigid now. Either way, this time was much better since Bendy wasn't choking you on himself, and you set a steady pace, bobbing back and forth over his length. Its glutinous texture subsided a little more every time you hollowed your cheeks and popped off of him before again descending with far more enthusiasm. With your assistance, the ink demon soon fully stiffened over your tongue tracing all the dark veins and ridges on him. He pulled you back up to his face by your hair when he was satisfied, causing you to cry out, and released his shirt from his toothy grip to unfurl his tongue into your ink-stained maw. It was strange to taste himself on you, but he lapped away any trace of your treatment on him and replaced it with his frosty breath.

 

In between the deep touches, Bendy pressed his pale lips to your ear and murmured roughly, “Aren't you good at that, doll? I'd give you your reward for it right now, but…” He trailed off to nip your earlobe and press his face into your neck, then, suddenly, stood while you were wrapped around him, snatching his gloves and bow off the couch.

 

A squeak sounded when he lifted and bounced you in his arms to reposition his awkward hold. He dragged himself up the stairs with you, cock brushing between your legs at the movement, and the dark gray on his cheeks darkened from the effort of carrying you while stumbling up the staircase. He sometimes had to pause to catch his labored breath whenever you rubbed his horns a certain way or offered him a deep kiss, but Bendy eventually made it down the hall upstairs and forced your back against the doorframe leading to your shared bedroom.

 

The last traces of daylight had finally dissolved, awakening a few stars to glitter weakly aside pale moonlight. Along with the sun, the sweltering heat dropped to a comfortable warmth, but sweat still slicked your sticky skin as Bendy closed his mouth around one of your breasts and struggled to yank off your last article of clothing.

 

You stretched your legs out to help, and the ink demon soon whisked your underwear away to who knew where. In one hand he had his gloves and bow clenched, hindering however he tried touching or holding you, but you ended his struggles and slid out of his arms. Your feet touched the carpeted ground, though it wasn't nearly as giddying as Bendy suspending you over his head and lapping your chest. The pants puffing out of your partially parted lips had recaptured his attention, anyway. He caught them with his own and kept you tilted at the perfect angle.

 

You pressed your hands against the ink demon's front and applied mild pressure while his teeth clacked against yours. Bendy, correctly interpreting your pushes, stepped back into the dim room, hiking your thighs up into his grip to pull you inside. His backside bumped into the bed, and in one fluid movement, he fell back, taking you down with him and releasing his gloves and bow at his side. Now with both hands freed, he ran them along your shaking, slick slides, pouring every drop of his lust into your mouth and the ticklish fluttering of his smooth hands. You only broke your record-long kiss to frantically raise his shirt over his horned head and trace the lean, mouthwatering muscle underneath before going down under with him again.

 

You only had a vague awareness of the sound of crickets chirping and bird calls, the wind and smell of night seeping in from your open bedroom windows. Your blankets rustled, and although you had yet to advance to the real fun part, the bed creaked in protest of what was to come. You were most concerned about how you were going to memorize every inch of the cartoon heaving underneath you and telling you how amazing you were. But even that jumbled your senses. You didn't know how or when he dragged your hips to his face. All you knew, or to use a better term, felt, was the hot bolt of pleasure searing up your spine as his tongue and fingertips teased at your entrance. Groaning frustratedly, you grabbed his horns for leverage, curved yourself, and gently bucked on top of him. An interested coo replied to your insistence. Trying to coax more longing from you, Bendy slid a single thin finger in and gingerly placed his lips to your thigh.

 

Since you knew what he was attempting to do to you, you dug your teeth into your lower lip to remain quiet, nearly drawing blood, but a high-pitched whine sounded when Bendy added another finger and rubbed his thumb in a slow circle over your clit. He pumped his fingers in and out, curled them, scissored them, added a third, even. All you could do was cry out and squirm above him as the mild nighttime breeze washed over your exposed chest and trembling legs.

 

Perhaps the musky smell was getting to his head, or he was sick of things not moving along because the ink demon soon took his hand away and slid his tongue in to replace it. You had to hunch your shoulders while hanging onto his horns to regain your breath in between squeals. Slick as his tapered tongue was, it slipped in with ease, brushing against places his long fingers couldn't even begin to reach. Bendy wrenched your thighs as far apart as possible and a thin appendage wrapped around your ankle. You didn't have to look to confirm it was the ink demon's tail. The moment his tongue flickered against a spot that made your vision double and voice raise an octave, Bendy closed his mouth around you before pulling away and pushing your thighs back down to straddle his waist. Your groaning protest against the change in position ended when he crashed his lips onto yours and wrapped his arms around your midsection to hold you flush to him as he waggled his skinny hips.

 

Just as Bendy tasted himself on you, you picked up traces of yourself on the cartoon. The faint sweetness sharply contrasted to the bitter ink. However, it was a smell and taste you had learned to love, much like what you had done with its owner. Speaking of which, the underside of his cock rubbed you every time Bendy shifted. You would have loved nothing more to sink down on top of him, but first, the devil had other plans. He slowly pulled away from you after letting another purr seep into your mouth, savoring the touch and tapping your foreheads together, then opened his gently closed eyes to fixate his affectionately twinkling optics upon you.

 

"Love you," he cooed before anything like the statement was of utmost importance.

 

The fuzzy happiness known as love bloomed in the pit of your stomach to accompany your tingling pleasure. "I love you, too," you whispered, squirming to find some kind of friction over his length.

 

He kissed the tip of your nose and held up a finger, telling you to remain patient (you would get your reward for being so sweet with Bendy soon enough), then reached his hand over to the rumpled sheets at his side to search for his untied bow. Once he found it, he held the ribbon up and raised a suggestive eyebrow at you with a croon.

 

"Wanna try something fun, toots?" he asked and swept his whip-like tail between your thighs.

 

Swallowing a moan when the tip of his tail ran over you only for his cock to replace it, you replied shakily, "Fun is a subjective concept."

 

"Nah, c'mon, watch, baby," he urged. "Be a good girl for your daddy?"

 

At his insistence, you went limp as a ragdoll, allowing him to raise your wrists over his head and tie them in his bow using surprisingly deft fingers. The ink demon, deeply happy with your compliance, peppered fleeting kisses over your burning face as you leaned over him. You struggled to grab his horns with your frustrating yet interesting new restraints.

 

"You can lemme know if ya want this off, toots," he said in a husky growl and fingered the tie around your wrists.

 

You opened your mouth to peep out a shaky reply but were unable to finish when Bendy then shoved his glove between your teeth.

 

"Don't spit that out," he snarled in warning, lip curled.

 

Your shock was immediate. You reeled back, nearly gagging due to how far the ink demon stuck the fabric down your throat. He hissed at you showing signs of wanting to release the glove as well as feebly struggling against his bowtie.

 

A shy look replied to his sudden intensity, and you could only imagine how wrong the scene of a cartoon gagging and tying you on his own gloves and bow must look to an outsider. Nonetheless, the tingles going down your spine and forming a hot pool in your gut didn't dissolve. In fact, they grew; your subconscious murmured in your ear to allow the ink demon restrain you however he pleased, but your uncertainty remained.

 

Noticing your awkwardness, Bendy forced his muscles to relax (despite having you completely at his mercy) and purred adoring reassurances in your ear while wrapping himself around you. The note on how very lovely you looked choked on his glove and coated in ink worked wonders. You stretched your legs as far apart as possible and managed to clasp one of his horns in your bound hands in a practical plead for him to take you.

 

Bendy shifted, pressing the tip of his length against you and thus, forcing you to let out a muffled moan. If your mouth wasn't stuffed then he would have kissed you, but he settled for nuzzling his snowy cheek against yours.

 

"You good, doll?" he chirred, wanting to make sure you didn't have doubts before he completely tore you apart.

 

More muffled keens. Interpreting this as his go-ahead, Bendy purred again and pulled your hips down to envelop him. You squeezed your eyes shut, grinding the cloth in your mouth between your teeth and accidentally moaning into it again. No matter how many times you did this, you would never get used to how thick Bendy was, especially with how agonizingly slow he sunk into you. Releasing his horn, you straightened up, rested your bound hands on the ink demon's vibrating chest, hung your head, and tried rocking yourself onto the rest of his length.

 

"Ah," he said shortly, raising an almost scolding finger to your nose. "Don't do that."

 

You met his firm gaze, for now too dignified to beg, but addled enough to show exactly how much you were enjoying this and how frustrated going slow made you.

 

The ink devil's sternness melted when he sensed the odd combination of desire and annoyance flowing off you, and, face softening, he cupped your burning cheeks. "Fuck me, you're too pretty to stay pissed at. And that makes me more pissed. But I can't get pissed at you." He remained hilted yet unmoving inside you as he struggled to come to a clear conclusion. At that point, you were ready to spit out his glove and fuck yourself senseless on him, but before you could make a decision Bendy traced a thumb over your bottom lip and purred, "Yeah, guess I can't be mad with you, beautiful. So..."

 

And, feeling nostalgic, Bendy propped himself up onto his elbows to whisper in your ear, "Show me how much love me again, (Y/N)."

 

Today he seemed to know all the perfect things to say. You gladly obliged, bouncing on top of him, savoring the pleasurable shocks urging you on. Bendy immediately shot both of his hands up to knead at your chest. The ink demon, though his eyes were wide open to soak in the sight of you curved above him, had his jaw slightly ajar, and a dark ashen gray color returned to his cheeks. He tossed his horned head back briefly, fangs clacking as he did so to silence any noises he made. Having no other way to coax a rarely-heard cute moan out of him, you bit down into his glove, angled yourself to the side, and tightened around him. The fingers pawing at your breasts spasmed along with his tail. Bendy jerked back up to stare at you, eyes accidentally melting into hearts, and pressed his fingertips into your thighs to keep you rocking over that perfect angle. Stifled but loud, you whined, making the ink demon's cock twitch. Another groan escaped you, and you jerked on top of him to feel more of the euphoria his reaction gave you.

 

By then, Bendy had finally found his voice. He squeezed your sides while rumbling compliments to you in that deep, gravelly voice he only ever got when the two of you were linked together like this. His hips bucked upward to meet you in between croons and growls. The ink demon squeezed his eyes shut when your muted cries increased in frequency. A few mews forced their way out of him, but he gritted his teeth to keep them contained along with the last few scraps of his self-control. Then again, it was hard to resist the instinctual voice telling him to press your face into the bed and lose his mind. Internally fighting with himself, Bendy shuffled and curled underneath you, grunting with every small movement. It didn't help when you leaned down against him and let him do all the work while you desperately tried to glide your bound hands over his abdomen. Bendy also had to admit that such a sight was beginning to get to him almost as much as the intoxicating smell.

 

Not wanting to be squirming mess under you anymore, the cartoon pulled your hips away from him, leaving nothing but ink splatters and a hot liquid running down your legs. You groaned, nearly dropping the glove in your mouth when your jaw loosened, but Bendy snarled a foreboding warning to you and flipped you over with his arms around your waist. You squealed when he pushed your side into the sheets then sidled up to your back with a coo that managed to sound predatorial and loving at the same time. The underside of his cock rubbed against your back before he repositioned it so that the head pressed teasingly between your thighs, adding more smears to your already stained skin when the pearls of ink welled upon him burst. The ink mingled with your own slick and slid down your trembling legs.

 

Bendy, propping one of them up with a hand and tail, placed his pointed chin on your shoulder. His dark purrs nearly deafened you. All you could let out in reply was a few muffled “mmphs”.

 

A wheezy chuckle answered your keening, and the devil continued chirring as he dragged his tongue all the way up from the base of your neck to your jawline. He finished the touch by nipping your earlobe and murmuring, “Sorry I had to move ya, baby girl. You were doin’ so good for your daddy, but…” He paused, then finished with an amused purr. “I think ya like this better, anyway. Right?”

 

He gently rolled forward to accompany the statement, slipping the tip, but nothing else, of himself inside. Against your better judgment to not feed the asshole demon’s ego, you moaned, eyes rolling back and back curving to fit aside his skinny chest perfectly like it was meant to be there (no matter what anyone would outcry against such a relationship). Your restraints were more annoying than ever since you would love nothing better to grab his horns or tail and babble out unintelligible begs for him to take you.

 

Before giving into your desires, Bendy continued whispering to you in his cold, smooth, snarling tone. “But you're still gonna be my good little girl and take me like ya fuckin' mean it?”

 

You nodded.

 

As he stated before, the ink demon couldn't remain so tense with you and soon relaxed, running his unoccupied hand up your thighs, stomach, and breasts before wrapping it around your throat. For the time being, he put no pressure into the hold and peppered kisses over the cheek that he didn't have pressed into the blankets.

 

“Love you,” he cooed, and, slowly hilting himself in you, Bendy tossed his head back and heaved, “Ah, fuck, (Y/N), I love you…”

 

There was no transition period between the sweet introduction and the following brutal treatment. The ink demon couldn't hold the last of his reservations when his hands were occupied with holding your thigh and neck. He pulled out, then jerked himself into with such unexpected force it made you see stars. They multiplied with every thrust and deep snarl he let out until a hot white haze of rapture consumed your vision, emanating from the pit of your stomach and heart until they were both fit to burst with love. You couldn't even begin to describe how much you enjoyed all the things he dazedly growled in your ear. Never mind the lewd slaps or your stifled shrieks of ecstasy, his voice was all that mattered, his voice and the feeling of his cock pummeling you and the vibrations his chest sent through your entire body when you rested your head against his shoulder. The ink demon paused only to pull you as close to him as possible. He pressed his cheek to yours, both flushed, one gray and the other scarlet, and rubbed them together as usual. This time, however, you enthusiastically greeted his affection and stretched your neck to make sure he covered every inch your face before resting your head under his chin.

 

Bendy couldn't decide whether he wanted to yank his glove out of your mouth and hungrily crash his lips to yours or hear more of your strangled cries against the makeshift gag. The intense pleasure shooting all the way to his fingertips (which had tightened around your neck and made you wheeze) kept him from deciding anyway, so he did nothing but pump his hips forward and let out a low yowl from clenched fangs. The sound only confirmed that a literal animal was fucking you.

 

Further confirming it, Bendy snapped his teeth next to your ear, sending a shiver straight down your spine to where he was senselessly bucking into you. You tried calling out his name through the glove in your mouth to voice your bliss, your love, but the fabric muffled you far too much, and the thin hand around your throat was constricting your airflow, as well. It didn't bother you, however. You loved it. In fact, you loved every horrible thing Bendy was doing to you so much that when he gave another harsh thrust into you, your entire body twisted, and the stars blinding your sight exploded. You constricted around the ink demon, making him choke as you came.

 

Your teeth clenched into his soaked glove and you stretched against his bow, though the fabric chafing your wrists together only further excited you. Everything around you spun in and out of your vision and you didn't even register the shaky call you made into the devil's glove.

 

The intense, hot wave subsided, however, leaving you breathless and limp in Bendy's arms. You could have slept for moons, he exhausted you so much.

 

But the dark snarl coming from your backside made you falter. “You think we're done, babe?”

 

Although the ink demon had yowled and forced himself in as far as possible when you came, he was still stiff inside you, and there was none of the hot, sticky fluid that always filled you once he finished.

 

And he definitely had not finished.

 

Without waiting for a reaction from you, Bendy swiftly pulled out and bowled you over in one movement. Now he pressed your entire face into the bed, and instead of laying aside you and embracing you so that he could tell you how good you were to him, the ink demon stood behind your bowed self on his knees, upper body held erect. You could only see him out of the corner of your gaze, but even that made your stomach plummet and heart rate spike. A cartoon shouldn't be attractive, and certainly not to the point of being sexy. So why did this one, in particular, defy that?

 

His already imposing height was so much more intimidating when you were forced down before him in your current position. Ink had begun to drip off of him again, and while it was nowhere near the puddle he had been earlier, it was still alarming. You shuddered when one of the gooey beads dripped off his length and splashed onto your backside, accidentally dropping his glove when you gasped, but didn't bother Bendy that your heaves were no longer muted, despite your worries. He leaned down to sink his teeth into your scruff and find the right angle to slide back in. A purr thundered out of him when he pressed the tip of himself back against you. Even the small touch made your already worn self quake with the pleasure it sent through you.

 

The ink demon’s low trilling faded into grunts as he rearranged the rest of himself, wrapping his arms around your waist and tail around your wobbling thigh to both steady you and hold you underneath him. You moaned out his name and stretched to meet him. The glove may have fallen out of your mouth, but his bow still clasped your wrists together. If only you could grab his horns just once, you thought dazedly, but before you could strain against your bonds, Bendy clamped his teeth further into your skin and slammed his hips forward. You cried out, not expecting such a sudden thrust and certainly not the shock of pleasure on top of your earlier release. Tears stung your eyes. The overstimulation was so good it was almost painful.

 

Adding to your bliss, Bendy pawed at your chest with one hand while the other fought for a grip on the bed sheets. The rolling hurr-r-r-r noises he let out sounded like an odd combination of a purr, growl, and moan. Your own tight wailing sharply contrasted to his deep, animalistic pants. The ink demon had stopped rocking himself back and forth in favor for rutting against you, barely pulling out before jerking forward, but somehow he still wasn’t any closer to finishing. He stifled the high whine threatening to burst out of him and licked his lips when he bucked against you with particular force.

 

You, on the other hand, were completely and wholly satisfied. The amount of gratification you could feel at a time was once again threatening to spill over, especially since you hadn't recovered from your first release, either. Sure enough, the moment he snapped at your neck again and smacked against you (with a particularly sickening squelch, might I add), you reached your cuffed hands over your shoulder to frantically scrabble at his biceps and mewed out his name, then tightened around him again. Not only did the room spin, it blinked out temporarily, leaving the stars of rapture to keep you company for those few mind-numbing seconds. All you were aware of aside from your deep love and ecstasy was Bendy gripping your throat and pressing long yet still strangely sweet kisses to the side of your face. Desperation seeped into every touch of his, so potent even you could sense it.

 

The cartoon hadn't came, obvious by the lack of a hot jet-black fluid leaking between your thighs, and the delay made him exceedingly impatient. He didn't even wait until you finished riding out your recent overstimulated climax before pulling out and flipping you over.

 

"Bendy!" you squealed to the ink demon swimming in and out of focus, arms raised pitifully above your head.

 

Without replying, he pressed himself flush to your front, lashing his tail and nipping your chest. His hands splayed over your hips, waist, stomach, briefly tweaked one of your nipples, then he settled for threading his fingers through yours and reared his head back to let out a choked snarl before pressing his lips to yours. The careful steps he took to contain himself suddenly fell apart, and Bendy only broke away from you to either growl your name or hiss out a curse. His cock brushed between your legs occasionally, but the minute contact was all you needed to start mewing into his mouth again and have your face heat up.

 

Bendy, fully breaking away from you to drag his fangs down your neck, fiddled with the bow around your wrists, then untied it, his thin fingers surprisingly deft even though the rest of him was a heaving, dripping mess. You heard the devil puff out your name barely above his breath as the fabric chafing your wrists slackened. You shuffled out of your irritating constraint before he could fully untie it and clapped your hands to his horns, bringing his face to yours and relishing your freedom with every inch of jet-black.

 

A few small, tight whines escaped from Bendy, but nothing was in comparison to your overzealous squeaks and keens, especially when he pulled up your thigh to wrap it around his waist without pulling his tongue away from yours. When he did move away to hunch over your neck and force himself to purr, you took the chance to moan his name and glide your hands down his midsection (a cartoon shouldn’t have abs, either, especially not such lean muscles that rippled under skin whenever he moved, but here you were frantically petting them). Shuddering, overstimulated, hot and bothered, you wrapped your hands around his cock and shuffled underneath him to find a way to slip him inside you, groaning frustratedly. Despite the way you tugged at him and his own lust, Bendy perked his head up and cooed to regain his composure and not lose himself again.

 

“Mmm,” he purred in a low voice, “ya want me even more, doll? Even though you've gotten off to me twice already?”

 

You groaned his name and a soft plea in reply.

 

“Well, lucky you, I haven't finished, so…” the ink demon trailed off, glanced down to his length bumping against the thigh he wrapped around his waist, licked his lips (you stared at the forked tip, making him purr amusedly), then glanced back up at you. “Keep takin’ your daddy like a good girl?”

 

“Yes!” you gasped, shooting your arms up to embrace his skinny shoulders, your nipples brushing against his chest and eliciting a growl from him. “Yes, Bendy, please--!”

 

One sharp jerk of his hips interrupted your begging. Your jaw hung and you shrieked, wrapping both legs around him, arms sliding further down his back. You committed every contour you felt to memory, especially those on his cock. Overly sensitive, you mapped out the thick veins that hit you at all the perfect angles. His pants chilled the side of your flushed face as Bendy quickly descended back into the senseless, sex-driven animal able to make you forget your own name, let alone anything you planned to do at the studio.

 

The combination of the new position and your unbonded self savoring every inch of his skin causes a familiar fervent blaze grow in the pit of his stomach. Heart-eyed and somewhat melting, Bendy gritted his teeth and looked up from where he was lapping at your chest to glance at you. You were unaware of his gawking, head tossed back to expose your neck and soaked in moonlit sweat and ink. High moans tumbled out of from your slightly parted lips. Bendy hadn’t been joking when he told you that you were always beautiful, but a sight like that was especially… enamoring.

 

Unusual hurr-r-r-rs returning, the ink demon pushed his face underneath your chin into your neck, then, leaving a glassy black trail in his tongue’s wake, pressed his cheek to yours. His arms curled around your waist while yours were still slung down his back, and your legs were frantically grappling at his thin waist, trying to hold on despite him bucking erratically. Although Bendy's movements were out of tempo and forceful, making your entire body bounce and your groans hitch, you managed to pull him closer and fit your hips together. Bendy hissed when a thrilling shock went down his spine and through his tail. He lashed the tip to shake off the sudden mind-numbing shock and rutted against you, not bothering to pull out in the slightest. He didn't want to remove any contact with you.

 

The warmth in the pit of his stomach finally churning with almost uncomfortable need, Bendy put his hand to your cheek and forehead to yours, placing a brief kiss against your parted lips, then panted when he slammed his hips forward almost cruelly. You gasped and heaved his name barely legible between the cries.

 

“Fuck,” the devil grunted and whispered raggedly to you, “(Y/N), toots, come for me, just one more time? Hngh, fuck…”

 

“Bendy,” you squeaked back, fingers digging into his shoulders and heels into his sides.

 

The single moan of his name was the single push the cartoon needed to topple over the edge. Fixating his mouth upon yours and sliding his tongue down your throat, he came just as you tightened around him for the last time.

 

It was the perfect, once-in-a-lifetime simultaneous orgasm. Bendy yowled at an octave hardly above the blood roaring your ears, and a thick, warm, almost disgustingly sticky liquid spilled between your thighs, pouring out deeper inside you than it ever had. Your other climaxes were laughable compared to this one. The regular haze was traded for an explosion of sensations. Although the only thing you were aware of was Bendy groaning as he let out the last few strands of cum into you, the feelings were magnified, making the slightest skin contact feel like a warm embrace. And considering you couldn’t tell where your body began or ended, he was so close to you, as well as his shuddering breath wreathing you in ice as he slumped in the aftermath of his release, you sobbed from the painful ecstasy.

 

Bendy made a move to slide out of you, but you cried out, keeping him from moving away. The slightest movement sent another wave of unbearable pleasure over you, so much so it brought tears to your eyes. Silently agreeing to stay connected to you until you came down from your extreme high, Bendy moaned again and lapped pitifully at your slick neck.

 

As well as chanting your name, the ink demon mewed compliments in your, ranging from telling you how beautiful you were to how good you were for your daddy. Whenever he made a deeply sweet remark, you whined, eliciting a chuckle from him. When he laughed, however, the ink demon shifted. You couldn't stifle your following screech. He silenced himself for every moment afterward.

 

Only when his cock had softened and begun melting away as it was hilted inside you did he chance pulling out. You keened softly and tightened around him, but no intense shock made you cry out. Bendy peeled himself away from you, purring lovingly but worn, though nowhere near as exhausted as you. He rearranged your limp self so that your back was against his chest, and he also pulled the covers up over the mess he had made of you. Cheek resting upon the ink-stained sheets, you stared out the open window, the stars in the sky dancing along with the ones covering your until they blinked out, leaving you drifting away to sleep in a cooing Bendy's arms.

 

Your rest was, well, far from rest. All of the doubts you had stuck in the back of your mind resurfaced in night-terrors of a skeletal ink demon snarling and barreling after you into a Miracle Station, but like all of your nightmares, there were far more layers to it than just a simple chase. Your dreams flickered back and forth, from you fleeing for your life in the studio to strolling around the same halls, except the walls were unblemished and far less aged, and you were never terrified when wandering aimlessly through the corridors. You were never alone, however. There was always a tall, lanky presence at your side who had their thin fingers threaded through yours.

 

The odd part was that you really weren't yourself. Your hands were too thick, shoulders too broad, your voice deeper. You weren't even female. You _definitely_ weren't yourself. And call you crazy, but you had a sneaking suspicion the person aside you wasn't Bendy. You were again walking with them throughout your dreams since your most recent sickening vision of a distorted Bendy ended. You were deaf to the own words you uttered, and you had no choice but to continue striding down the hallways as if you were on autopilot. Even your vision was out of focus. The being you occupied brought your --  no, his -- free hand up to his hair, and blind panic shot through you when you felt the man's short, spiky, thornbush-like bristles. Certainly not your body, and although the spindly fingers in yours felt like Bendy's, you were now positive it wasn't him.

 

The only thing you could make out in the blur was the person at your side turning their narrow face toward you, giving you an awfully familiar wide grin before calling you by a name that wasn't yours.

 

You only got to register the "H-" of what the figure said before you awoke in the middle of your arm swinging towards Bendy's face. Unable to acknowledge the movement and stop yourself, you struck Bendy, making the ink demon jerk awake as well and shoot his hands up to the center of his face where you hit him with a pained yelp.

 

“Oh my god!” you exclaimed, instantly guilty, and frantically flipped over to watch him (your sore body screamed in protest, however). “Oh my god, Ben’, I'm so sorry, are you okay?”

 

“Oh, yeah,” he replied in a tired, nasal tone, hands clapped over the center of his face. “I'm fine. Just some internal bleeding.”

 

“Oh my god,” you repeated quietly once more and brought a gentle hand up to his cheek. “I'm sorry.”

 

At first, Bendy didn't reply, expression twisted in discomfort. He slowly pulled his hands back down, however, and replied, “S’fine. Any reason you were playin’ ninja?” Shuffling you flush to his chest again, he yawned, then guessed before you could answer, “You nervous ‘bout tomorrow?”

 

You were alert enough to feel his cum slicking your thighs. Blushing darkly and focusing on the moon hanging just outside the open window, you mumbled, “No. Well, sorta. I just… didn't have a very good dream.” You paused, then, while Bendy was synthesizing a soothing response to your nightmares, asked hesitantly, “Are you nervous?”

 

Bendy gaped again before answering. In his exhaustion, the devil didn't think to hide his own feelings. “Of course I am. Nervous, but I think it'll work out in the end. You made sure of that with your control freak plan. My smart baby girl,” he purred lazily.

 

You rolled your eyes at his compliment but gave a tired grin, nonetheless.

 

“See?” he continued, noticing your soft, heart-warming smile. “You know it, too. S’fine if you're nervous, though. I am, too. So ya don't need to attack my face, but’cha do need to go to sleep.” Kissing the slope of your shoulder, he added, “I love you. Now go to sleep, ‘less ya want me to suffocate you again.”

 

You nodded to show you understood (but you weren't going to listen).

 

“Good. And no ninjas. I can fight them all away for you.”

 

Instead of snapping at him that you could take care of yourself, you whispered, feeling strangely choked, “Thank you.”

 

Bendy chirred, happy you were allowing him to take care of you for once, and his breathing slowed in between purrs while he was pressing his cheek to yours. It took very little for him to fall back into a deep sleep. You, on the other hand, were far from slumber. Not only were you too sore to rest peacefully, you were afraid of re-entering your unusual dreams. The distraction of smacking Bendy in the face had whisked away any important memories of the visions, as well. You couldn't even remember the name you had been called by... Oh, the other person's name was on the tip of your tongue, as well; you were sure you knew him, but your knowledge eluded you.

 

For the rest of the night, you stared at the moon, counting all of the unspoken things you put into your single thanks and pushing vague recollections of your nightmare away in favor of various situations you would encounter at the studio tomorrow. The worst of all was losing Bendy to Joey Drew.

 

You tried imagining how that would make you feel, but it was too agonizing to imagine, so you settled for internally fretting over the ink staining your skin, glowing in the moonlight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M DISGUSTING WHAT DID I TELL Y'ALL HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--*chokes *
> 
> So, um... yeah. I'm an awful person. Even more awfu than I've shown here, I think you'll find by the time I publish the last chapter and the epilogue.
> 
> Wow. Two parts left. Haven't we come far?
> 
> And a lot. Many times as I wrote this.
> 
> ANYWAY, next chapter is gonna take a VERY long time. Hell, I don't think I'll update until after my birthday (my birthday is on May 26th, but that's irrelevant info). So, with that being said, please be patient. Crap like this takes a while to, uh, create. Or however horrible shit gets made.
> 
> But you've stuck with me this far, huh? Some of you, at least. Most, I would hope. I couldn't be more grateful to you guys :) I hope you can wait a bit for the next chapter (You can check for updates to my writing on my Twitter, @ThrillTheKiller! Yeah! Check it out, or I'll keep bashing my Twitter tag over y'all's heads!)
> 
> Also please don't kinkshame me *ducks away into corner*
> 
> Peace out, Rainbow Trout


	30. Sunset (Part One)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't know much about your life beyond these walls, the fleeting sense of love within these God-forsaken halls.
> 
> And I can hear it in his voice, in every call.
> 
> This girl who's slept a hundred years has something after all
> 
> And though I know, since you've awakened her again. She depends on you, she depends on you.
> 
> I'll go alone, and never speak of you again. We depend on you, we depend on you.
> 
> I'll depend on you.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY JUNE, MY FRIENDS (and belated birthday to me)!
> 
> Okay, before I say anything about life or whatever, I think you noticed the Chapter name
> 
> Part One
> 
> So, I did some thinking, and decided: y'know what? Having a 20,000+ word chapter of something is way too much, both for me to write in one sitting and you guys to read as a single chapter. And so I split the last chapter into two parts.
> 
> I wish I didn't have to, but I really feel it's better this way for everyone. I get to leave y'all on a cliffhanger, haha...
> 
> I'm evil
> 
> Anyway, yeah, the update is pretty late, I know, I'm extremely sorry, too. I was hoping to update yesterday so that I wouldn't have to wait until June, but hey! Shit happens. I gotta let it go instead of beating myself down over due dates I set for myself. As you can tell, I'm trying to improve myself as a human being, something I decided on after my birthday, because THAT day was shit.
> 
> Can't let stuff get to me, y'know? World poularity is unattainable. Who cares if people don't care?
> 
> Damn, now I'm starting to sound like Bendy. Before I dig my grave any deeper, I'm gonna direct y'all who have stuck around for this finale downward.
> 
> Oh! And that reminds me! WE GOT OVER A THOUSAND KUDOS! A. THOUSAND. A THOUSAND KUDOS! I COULD NOT ASK FOR A BETTER GIFT FROM ANYONE! YOU GUYS MADE ME START SOBBING DURING MY SECOND PERIOD WHEN I SAW THE KUDOS COUNT I HOPE YOU'RE SATISFIED YOU FUCKS I LOVE YOU SO MUCH--
> 
> *clears throat * So yeah. A thousand. That's pretty huge. Thank you :)
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy this part and the next just as much, and the epilogue even more (I'm gonna kill biology and blow your mind)!
> 
> Enjoy reading this.
> 
> It's one of the last times you'll get to.

Across the city, as your ink-stained self was staring morosely at the liquid silver bathing the room, Alice Angel sat hunched aside the exit to Joey Drew Studios. Instead of moonlight, she was bathed in the muted yellows and browns of the studio; her pale white skin looked like aged parchment in the lighting. Candlelight cast eerily shaped, flickering shadows across her rounded face (her sharp nose, on the other hand, was as narrow and pointed as Joey's). The flames occasionally reached out to her, wanting to devour her ancient paper skin in a blaze.

Alice felt as delicate as parchment, at least. For a moment, she was tempted to reach out to the small fire but stifled the urge to make her way across the room and run her thin fingers over the candles to feel something besides aching emptiness. Joey Drew wouldn't be happy if she came crying to him with molten fingertips.

Alice imagined her ink boiling, running down her outstretched palms in goopy rivulets, and shuddered.

Joey wasn't happy with the angel in the first place, anyway. He hadn’t raised a blade to her in quite a while, but it was only a matter of time. Alice hadn't been upholding her duties to him. There were three inky experiments of his resting in the bowels of the studio whom she was supposed to check on, but ever since you came to her with your brilliant plan, Alice had neglected her responsibility, and Joey had noticed. He hadn't yet confronted her, however, which she was eternally grateful for and disappointed about. While she had been ecstatic to discover you were her ticket out of the studio, to Susie, her excitement soon faded, leaving nothing but dread and confusion in its place.

Would she really be able to see Susie again? Alice doubted you would hunt down the former voice actress for the sake of an angel who had been far too close to Joey, although she didn't mind being close to him. The animator said he understood Alice, and more than that, he was her creator. You could hardly blame Alice for seeking some comfort or even affection from him. It always gave her a warm feeling in the pit of her stomach when he would place a lanky hand so much like her own upon her hair and praise her, thank her for helping him keep his dream alive. Where did that leave her dreams, though?

There was a way back to Susie. But that would mean leaving the man who was practically her father behind, and the angel knew how abandonment felt. It was the worst feeling in the world. According to Joey, he already had that heartbreak once in his life. She couldn't possibly leave him when he was so kind to her, nevermind all those times he tore her insides out. He had done it for a good reason, he said.

Alice didn't understand the nuances between right and wrong.

Susie or Joey? the ink angel asked herself, putting her gloved fingertips to her lips. Which love do you want? Romantic or paternal?

She also conveniently forgot Susie never showed her any more affection than a sibling would to their little sister and while Joey may truly care about her, he had an awful way of showing it. Perhaps this knowledge wouldn't make her decision easier either way.

Then again, it was Joey's fault Susie was no longer with her in the first place...

Forgetting this as well, the only other variables Alice could think of were Boris, Bendy, and you. She couldn't see you trying too hard to seek out Susie for her. Bendy would simply tell her to get over herself before going back to cooing sweetly in your ear, much to the angel's envy. Boris would be too worried about saving his own hide. If she went along with you, she would be free, but there would be no guarantee of companionship. If she went along with Joey, she would never be free, but at least she would have someone near her. Love or freedom?

A tapping noise like rain made the decision for her. Alert, the ink angel perked up, angling her small horns toward where she thought the sound to come from. There was a brief silence in which she held her cold breath. Then, just as she prepared to slump back into her dismay, the taps rang out again, this time with vigor. Alice concluded the source of the noise to emanate from the very door she sat beside. She leaped to her booted feet, fluffy black hair bouncing.

Sweeping a few thick strands away from her soft features and delicately straightening her halo, the ink angel tilted her head up in elegant arrogance, the way she learned from Joey, lightly placed her fingertips on the knob, and turned it, expecting another plaything for Joey on the other side.

A face she never thought she'd see again greeted her.

Unsure if it was in delight or shock, Alice shrieked, "Susie!" and threw open her arms.

Susie Campbell immediately flung herself into them without further greeting. The last few gusts of the day followed the former voice actress' entrance, sweeping Alice in blossom-scented heat. Beams of moonlight were able to sneak their way in and combat the candles' warm lighting, making Alice's thick hair glossier than ever. She struggled to breathe between her constricted throat and the mingled scent of Susie and spring on her tongue. Tears stung her widened eyes, but Alice managed to hold them back; she didn't think Susie would like her shoulder to be stained black.

Susie. Susie. She was here in the flesh, able to be held, able to be stained, able to be loved. Mustering the willpower to leave her embrace, Alice shot her gloved hands up to the girl's face disbelievingly and traced her cheekbones, afraid she may dissolve at any given moment, but Susie didn't vanish. She placed her own hand over Alice's like you had done to Bendy so many times before.

"How?" Alice choked out in a whisper when she found her ability to speak.

Although her own voice replied to her, Alice had never before heard such a beautiful sound. "Sammy called me," explained Susie. "He said there was something urgent Joey wanted to talk about or something that he needed over the weekend." She shook her head. "Sammy wasn't very specific."

Alice couldn't help but feel put off by this remark. Had Susie returned for someone else rather than her? But then the further voice actress went on, and all of her doubt dispersed.

"I know it isn't the weekend yet," said Susie, distressed and tightly squeezing Alice's hand. "And I know this is an awfully late hour, but Alice, I had to come back." Her wide, watery eyes bored into Alice's skull. "I miss having lunches with Joey. I miss getting my lines from Sammy. I miss my job. I miss you."

If Alice’s heart didn’t burst, then her tear ducts certainly did. Hot ink leaking down her cheeks, the angel wept, having no further regards for Susie’s clothing as she buried her face into the fabric and balled her fists around it, refusing to let go in case Susie left her again. “I missed you, too. Susie, I missed you so much…”

“I know. And that's why I had to come, not just because Sammy called me, don't you see?” She gently detached Alice from her side, trying not to focus on the stains her tears made, and went on. “I don't care what Joey wants to talk about, because I want to talk to him. He's mentioned something to me before, an opportunity. A way I can get my role back. A way we can both be together.” The room swam in Alice's peripheral vision when Campbell leaned close, her suddenly intelligent, calculating eyes reflecting the moonlight. “You do want to be with me, right?”

Alice squeaked out an agreement.

“Good,” said Susie, brushing past Alice and into the studio, voice brusque when it had been soft and cooing only moments ago. Strangely enough, when she turned back to the ink angel, she softened again and said, “Take me to Joey, please, Alice?”

Spurred by her name forming upon the girl's lips, Alice darted into action, wanting nothing more than to please her best friend. She scampered down the halls to Joey's office, Susie always close behind. Alice made sure she kept up by occasionally flashing a sickeningly sweet, loving smile over her shoulder. Susie never returned them, but Alice didn’t mind. She was here, wasn't she? The angel’s halo bobbed over her thick hair as she moved along. It glowed with only the faintest light. When they left the candlelight flickering behind them, Susie had to squint to see it in the gloom and continue following her angelic guide. Eventually, the darkness grew to consume the angel and her shimmering halo, leaving Susie in the dark. A panicked flare went down her spine. Could she have lost the only path lighting the way to the man who ruined her life?

Her uncertainty was short-lived, however. Thin fingers curled reassuringly around Susie's, Alice nestled herself into the girl's side and said dreamily, "This is Joey's office."

The white glove placed upon his office door made only the faintest outline in the gloom. Alice felt the halo-like circles on her palms burning through the wood and Susie's stare daring her to make a move, so she took in the breath she didn't need, then pushed through the entrance, allowing the angel and her companion inside.

Joey Drew sat upon his throne-like chair, awaiting the duo as if he had known of their arrival. His unlikely guardians, a frightened-looking Allison Pendle and a sneering Shawn Flynn, stood against the wall to Joey's right. Aside Alice, Susie bristled at the sight of the novice who had "stole" her job, hating how easily she seemed to have ingratiated herself, but was oblivious to Allison's true intentions. The girl had taken your request to heart and did everything she had in her power to claw up the ranks in Joey's cult until she found herself right in the animator's inner circle. The information she had gathered about the rituals at the studio terrified and sickened her. She hadn't yet had the... pleasure... of watching a dissection, but the things Joey excitedly taught her from The Illusion of Living gave Allison a good enough idea of his intentions.

She wondered if you knew Bendy was a god.

Shawn, while he too had soared up the ranks soon after joining, reckoned the idea of a cartoon-god was insane, but he would never say so to Drew's face. However, he also couldn't say that the idea of Bendy getting tortured for being a god in Joey's eyes wasn't appealing. After all, your relationship with him was the reason he had joined forces with Joey in the first place. Offering his complex knowledge of the studio's rumors and employee dynamics, Shawn squealed to Joey about you aimlessly strolling through the studio, hand-in-hand with Joey's prized creation. It took a few days for him to decide whether he hated you or Joey more, but in the end, there was something horribly unnatural about sleeping with a cartoon demon.

Almost as unnatural as someone being in love with his ex-best friend who left him twenty-five years ago.

Either way, the prejudiced toymaker enjoyed entertaining the idea of tearing apart such a union so much so that he silently consented to be placed in Joey's back pocket.

Allison and Shawn both swiveled to eye Susie and her companion, one expression fearful, the other spiteful. Joey himself didn't acknowledge Susie until she had slunk forward to the front of his desk.

"Campbell," he greeted coolly without looking up from The Illusion of Living, which was splayed open before him. Only a few blank pages remained at the end of the book.

Susie had the pleasure of reading only a few excerpts from the book when she thought her occupation to be for life but hadn't quite dipped back into Joey's tainted world since he evicted her. What a waste. Whatever Joey was doing, Susie would have been glad to help, but now... Being up close to the man who built her up just to bring her down made a hatred unlike any other churn her insides. She didn't miss Joey so much as her previous perception of him. But that was when everything was perfect. Susie would now have to fight for such perfection.

"Mr. Drew," she replied in a choked greeting, keeping her tone from sounding too bitter. "You wanted me back?"

"In a sense," his voice, though on the surface was vague and indifferent, had a festering layer of sharp intelligence and cold amusement underneath. "I'm sure Sammy told you something about an opportunity--"

"Would it happen to be the same opportunity you told me about when I worked here?" Susie hurried on before the man could finish. "What you were thinking about? Your... experiment?"

A flash of surprise lit up Joey's narrow, gaunt face, then vanished. Indeed, he wasn't expecting his former employee to play so easily into his hands, but it did make his quest for conversion much simpler. He refused to show how pleased he was, though.

Standing and turning away from Susie to face his two silent companions so she wouldn't see any change in his expression, Joey replied carefully, "And what would that be?"

"I want to come back. I miss it here. I was Alice. And I want to be her again."

"She wants to be with me again," clarified Alice with heart-wrenching, naive cheerfulness.

"Is that so?" hissed Joey, glancing over to see Susie tighten her jaw and cast her gaze down to her feet like a child caught doing something wrong.

Approaching her unblinkingly, Joey cocked his head and continued on in a voice only his former employee could hear. "You are aware of the cost of such a procedure, correct?" His icy stare moved from Susie's stoic face to oblivious Alice, hopefully and patiently watching the conversation. "It won't work without a base. A cartoon as a base, and a very specific cartoon in your case. I've tried without one, three times, in fact, and they're all imperfect. There's only one thing missing from the procedure: a model. Well, that, and something to appease the gods, but I'll soon have that fixed--"

"Don't make this more complicated than it has to be!" Susie suddenly snarled with such ferociousness it made Allison and Alice flinch and Shawn leap forward, prepared to spring toward her throat. He was uncharacteristically dedicated to his new role.

The only person unaffected by her outburst, Joey, waved Shawn back to his post and narrowed his cold eyes at the source of such disruption.

"I'm not making this harder. I'm being honest."

"Since when?"

"Ah. That. That's what makes me wonder why I should do anything you ask." His words hung in the air, constricting Susie's throat as Joey slunk back to sit at his desk, clasping his thin hands over the surface. "So tell me, Susie: why should I?"

That was a very good question, and one the girl did not know how to answer. Of course, Joey was bluffing; he would have gone through with his experiments whether Campbell liked it or not, but there was no reason he shouldn't wheedle something valuable out of Susie. That is, if she had an offering for him.

It felt good to be the father of living gods.

A few speechless moments later (Susie did a very good impression of a wide-eyed goldfish, much to Joey's silent amusement), when it seemed like he would receive no answer, Alice suddenly exploded at Susie's side.

"I know why you should let her stay!" gasped the angel, pale gray rising to her cheeks while she frantically tugged at Susie's shirt in case Joey whisked her away again. "I can give you something!"

Joey had been hardly aware of her presence until then, aside from the reference to using her as a vessel to create a perfect, immortal hybrid. "Alice?" he said in surprise. "Give me something? And what would that be?"

At his insistence, Alice Angel bit her small yet plump lower lip, snake-like fangs gently embedded in the flesh. "I can show you."

Joey was not in the mood to play his dreamy daughter's games that night. "Then show me."

"I... I have to go find Boris," she hurriedly replied and, squeezing a thunderstruck Susie's hands in hers reassuringly, continued speaking to Joey while her gaze bored into the former voice actress'. "Wait here. I promise, when I get back you'll see why you have to give her this opportunity."

Her boots clicked down the hall as she scurried away, leaving the others behind her. Allison had drunk in the entire display with wide eyes, prepared to inform you of everything she had seen tonight in the morning. Shawn, on the other hand, had been annoyed by the exchange more than anything and would have much rather Joey go back to describing the plans he had for Bendy in enthusiastic, almost excessive detail. That was entertaining. This? Not quite.

Shawn didn't have a very large attention span.

Which, in part, was why he couldn't stand waiting for some dopey female cartoon to return while he stood alongside an equally dopey voice actress. It was also quite uncomfortable to watch Susie visually dissect Joey, who was carelessly and smugly sprawled on his throne.

Thankfully, Alice's tracking skills rivaled those of Bendy's, and she hopped back to Susie's side, a trembling wolf following close behind. Papers crinkled in his paws. Interest piqued, Joey leaned forward, confirming that they were indeed the sheets he had seen Boris rustling through earlier in the week. Joey hadn't seen Boris or those handwritten notes of his since the confrontation.

"Give him the papers," said Alice in a low yet commanding voice.

The wolf's ears, previously flattened against his skull, flicked forward incredulously. "Give them to him? Alice, you told me he just wanted to tell me something! I would've never even brought these if I knew--"

"Knew what?" Susie suddenly demanded, just as bewildered by Alice's actions. "I don't see how some notes are going to--"

"Help you? They will. We need you." On that vague remark, the angel returned to baring her needle-like fangs at Boris. "Give Joey the papers!"

"The papers, Boris," echoed Joey tonelessly. The lack of emotion in his voice was even more terrifying than rage or frustration. Joey had obviously recognized the dog-eared pages, and he wasn't going to let them slip through his fingers again.

Fear-scent leeched off of Boris and into the air, enveloping him in a hazy, sickening cloud. His only relief was that Joey couldn't smell terror, but Alice could, judging by the way she wrinkled her small nose. All four pairs of eyes in the room rested upon him, and only one seemed as frightened as he was.

Allison. She knew not what was unfolding before her, nor what the papers Joey was scrutinizing greedily held, but she did surmise that it was nothing good. Boris forced himself to meet her stare, his cartoon optics rounded in a clear, panicked cry for help as shadowy figures converged on him, focused on the papers packed with your handwriting.

Allison brought herself to hold his gaze. She looked down and stepped back in the same instance Shawn took a slinking step toward the wolf. It wasn't Bendy, but Boris' fear was decent enough.

Fur on end, Boris glanced behind him, knowing full well he could dart out the unguarded door. Who wasn't to say that the cult wouldn't follow him, though? Besides, the empty stare of Joey Drew froze the cartoon wolf, as icy as it was. He couldn't help shrinking into his thick, glossy black pelt when the animator towered over him. Even Susie wavered in his presence, despite being back on the same side as Joey.

Alice, on the other hand, was perfectly content to shuffle over to Shawn, glaring at Allison and giving Boris a smug look as she fell back. The canine watched her disbelievingly; he couldn't comprehend her lack of comprehension. Did she have the faintest clue as to what she was doing?

When Alice Angel peeled her eyes off him and fixated them upon Susie, simpering, infatuated, he realized: not at all.

And that was about the same moment when Joey Drew spoke again.

His voice, cold and clipped, hissed out of him like a snake. "Give me the papers, Boris."

Boris handed him the papers. Against his better judgment, but forced by the fear of Joey he had nursed for years on end, Boris shakily, unwillingly handed him the papers, counting a thousand apologies to you in his terror-soaked mind. Joey took the notes with great refinement to not immediately tear them apart and turned around, carefully leafing through the pages.

Alice's eyes never left him. They bulged out of her head, and with her pursed lips, she had the impression of being about to explode. The other three in the room, besides Boris, were as puzzled and silent as ever while awaiting Joey's judgment.

The crinkling noises of his thin fingers brushing the paper ceased. Drew's skinny shoulders, the only part of him Boris could see in the gloom, squared and tensed.

"I told you," spoke Alice suddenly. "Susie needs to stay. You need all the help you can get."

Joey did not promptly reply.

A frightening omen, to Boris.

At last, Joey said quietly, "Yes. She can stay. Allison," he continued, inclining his head to the girl, causing her to jump out of her skin. "Take Alice and Susie down to the lower levels." His voice raised to a demanding bark. "But not with Norman and the other two. Find another room and stay with them." Ice trickled down Boris' spine when Joey's frostily furious gaze met his, tone dangerously low. "And take Boris with you."

Giving the horrified wolf a sad, apologizing expression, Allison submitted. "Right. Of course," she whispered.

"Thank you. Who knows," mused Joey Drew coldly, "maybe you two could both have a part as Alice."

Not wanting to know what he truly meant, Pendle swallowed down the tightness in her throat, then, brushing past Boris, beckoned to the three. "Follow me."

Stiffly, Susie followed, tugging Alice along with her. It was a struggle for the angel to leave the room, though. For whatever reason, her previous triumph had vanished, leaving a gnawing, aching sensation in the pit of her stomach. Before leaving the room, she peered at Joey, who was snapping at Shawn to tell the rest of the employees that their "meeting" had been moved to tomorrow night, and to call Thomas, telling him that the repairs to the Ink Machine must be done tomorrow night as well. Sammy had not yet returned from his duties, so the toymaker would have to stand in for Joey's right-hand man.

Joey did not meet Alice's stare. The angel had been hoping for at least a grateful glance, some approval for what she had done.

But there was none. Only Boris' incredulous face and Susie's grip on her wrist, which had finally pried her away from the doorframe.

Allison attempted to start a conversation on the way down, inquiring what exactly the papers contained, but Susie despised her too much to speak to her and Boris couldn't talk without stuttering into hysterics. Alice feigned deafness. At least, until Campbell pressed her lips to the cartoon's ear, murmuring, "Thank you for finding something to convince Joey."

Choked on her sweet breath, Alice couldn't find her tongue, which was perhaps consumed by the strange, sickening feeling eating away her insides. In the end, she gained both Susie and Joey without having to choose. So why did it feel like she lost everything?

Ignoring Boris, staring at her while latched onto Allison, tail tucked between his legs, Alice shut her eyes and leaned into Susie as she walked.

"You're welcome. I'd do anything for you," said Alice Angel. "I'd do anything for you, because I love you."

At about the same time the four settled into the bowels of the studio, dawn broke, and Bendy finally stirred from where he was pressed flush against your back. It occurred to you during your all-nighter that the ink demon was not a very quiet sleeper. On occasion, throughout the night, he would either purr or snarl directly in your ear, so you were glad he was awakening. The idea of getting hearing aids before you turned twenty wasn't too appealing.

Although he no longer crooned with every exhale, Bendy unhinged his jaw and let out a rumbling yawn before blinking his eyes open. You shied away from his fangs bared over your head and sank further against his chest. Bendy clamped his jaw shut at the movement and awkwardly tilted his head down, bleary optics blinking at you.

"You been awake this entire time?" he asked with another yawn and brought his hands up from your waist to rub his face as if he could knead the exhaustion out of it.

"No," you said innocently, twisting around to face him. "I woke up just now because you kept trying to make me go deaf."

"Talk to me when my face stops hurting," he grumbled, referring to how you had backhanded him last night.

A lingering twinge of guilt ground your insides. "I said I was sorry," you implored, rolling on top of him. The ink demon grunted at your weight but didn't shove you away, so you continued, "Your cheekbones are fine."

Bendy's eyes lit up. "You like my cheekbones?"

"I never said that."

"But did you mean that?" he purred, now completely fine with you straddling him.

"No," you shot him down dryly. "Now come on and get up, you already know what today is and just laying here isn't gonna do anything."

When the cartoon stiffened at your reminder, whether it was from apprehension or just to spite you, you huffed, then tried rolling over again with him in your arms. Bendy played along with your attempt for the time being until you neared the edge of the bed. Before the two if you could tumble down together, the ink devil pushed you off of him and onto the floor, where you landed in a crumpled, shocked heap. A shriek sounded once you got over the freezing atmosphere outside of the sheets. It was still warm outside, and an occasional hot breeze gusted in through the open window, but in comparison to your previous cozy environment, the climate was frigid.

Bendy peered over the edge of the bed at where you lay winded. Furious, you lashed out to cuff one of his horns, but he pulled away at the last minute and chortled.

Returning to his perch, though well out of your reach, he hooted condescendingly, "You gotta be quicker than that, toots."

"You asshole," you snapped, tugged at the blankets to pull yourself back up, then slipped and fell back down.

Bendy couldn't stifle his howls of laughter afterward, his entire body curving along with his tail, at least, until you tore the covers off him in retaliation. He, too, went silent for a surprised few seconds, then began wailing when the chill enveloped him. His spitting noises permeated even the thick covers that had landed on you after ripping them away from the ink demon's hold.

Jumping up and throwing the sheets into the air, you said crossly, "Come on and stop acting like a baby. Sitting there and being a prick isn't gonna help, and plus, I have to take a shower, and you do, too." You grabbed his trembling tail and jerked on it to finish your assertion.

Already shocked by the loss of his blankets, Bendy leaped nearly three feet above the bed when you yanked him, yowling. He then chased your fleeing form into the bathroom to carry out his revenge. Since you failed to slam the door closed on time, the ink demon hurled himself onto your back, refusing to release you until you collapsed under his immense weight, being the two-hundred-pound toothpick he was. You thumped his stomach before he could crush you, however, forcing him to release you and stumble away wheezing. It wasn't how you wanted to start your day, but Bendy acting like a pissy child was unacceptable. You knew he was only behaving so horribly because, as he confessed when you woke him earlier in the night, he was sickeningly nervous, but he should've known by then that being awful solves nothing.

Unless he liked being winded, you pondered, leaving Bendy behind to wheeze against the doorframe as you stepped into the shower and twisted it on to the warmest setting. Not hot enough to scald you, but the perfect temperature to both warm you and wash the ink off your thighs with ease. Bendy silently slunk in aside you when he finished gasping, and you shuffled forward to wrap your seems around his thin midsection, showing that there were no hard feelings for him throwing you off the bed or you smacking him.

"If you're not gonna give me a blowjob," grunted the ink demon, "then get the fuck off me."

You pulled away from him, offended. "I hope you're sure about making the decision to be mean today of all days."

"I'm not the one being mean," he retorted in a whine. "You are. Hitting me in the face 'n all..."

Offense traded for exasperation, you said, "Ben', that was an accident. I said sorry a thousand times now, can you please stop getting hung up on it?"

"Mmmmaybe," the ink demon conceded, and seeing an amused glitter return to his eyes, you knew his mood swing had more or less run its course. "Tell me you like my cheekbones?"

"Yes, Bendy, I like your cheekbones, which are so hollow they make you look dead."

"I get the sense that y'aren't being genuine.

"Really?" you replied in the same deadpan tone. "What gave you that idea?"

"And I'm being mean," moped Bendy once you grabbed his horns and began washing them, ending your conversation. "I'm not mean, I'm not anything."

"Do we have to work on your self-confidence next?" you asked offhandedly while searching for a sponge to use on your stained legs since you had finished scrubbing Bendy.

"No," he said, mellow in comparison to his earlier disgruntlement. "That's one of the few things I'm fine with."

"I know. You have too much of it sometimes." You quit searching to once again embrace the cartoon, your soaked hair and cheek resting against his chest.

The sound of watering pouring from the showerhead masked his faint heartbeat, to your disappoint. Nonetheless, Bendy purred, then took advantage of you being latched onto him by forcing you to slide down into the tub with him. Finding it worthless to argue, since there were plenty of things you would have to conserve your energy for later that fateful day, you allowed him to keep you at his side as he lay under the stream of water.

"You're gonna waste all the water and my bills are going to put me in debt," you noted, though his chest muffling your voice made your warnings sound half-hearted.

"And?" the devil goaded, more in a teasing way rather than maliciously.

"I won't be able to pay them off. I'll be evicted. I'll have to sleep under people's porches and eat out of their garbage."

"Or ya could live in a tree and kill deer and rabbits travel by eagle--"

"I don't think I'm suited for that kind of lifestyle," you grumbled to hide the laugh bubbling up in the back of your throat.

"S'okay, 'cause I'll be there, and I'm pretty sure I'll do fine."

"With your overinflated head?" you asked nonchalantly, reaching up to his hooked horns for emphasis.

"Which one?" retorted Bendy in a false, fluttery coo.

"That's gross!" you immediately burst out, now unable to stifle your laughs as you clambered over him, internally relishing the cool condensation on his jet-black skin sliding over your own. "God, don't be gross, and anyway, even if you don't have to work on your confidence, you have other things to deal with." Leaning forward from where you sat on his waist for emphasis, you said, "Like your people skills. Socialization. And getting along with two people in particular."

"We're not people. Us three're aliens. We came from Uranus. Now get off me."

"Stupid fifth grader jokes are just as gross as dick jokes," you told him pointedly without moving. "And, if this works, you'll have to continue making it work by not spawning Satan in the same room as Boris."

"Ugh, don't say 'if' it works," groaned Bendy, but he pulled you back against his chest instead of pushing you away. "I already told'ja I was nervous, don't make it worse, don't talk about it..."

"Ignoring it isn't going to make it go away," you said sternly over the ink demon cooing in distress while rearranging you in his arms. "And you were the one who said it was fine a week or something ago and that it would work, so--"

"I know, but now it doesn't exist," he disregarded your advice. "I ignored it and now it's gone. Except I still might puke. All over here," he said, gesturing to your form.

"Don't you dare," you hissed furiously. "I love you, but right now I feel like ignoring it too and leaving you at that damn studio because 'it doesn't exist'!"

Silence greeted your harsh rebuke. At first, you thought you had been too nasty with the cowed ink demon and made a move to apologize, but Bendy beat you to it.

"Sorry," he mumbled to his tail, which was flicking anxiously between his feet, before glancing up to meet your stare like a scolded child.

Exasperated but warmed, you slid off the ink demon, then carefully rose to a standing position so that you wouldn't slip back into the tub. You offered a hand to Bendy, which he gladly took and hauled himself up with. His tail stiffened as he fought for balance but soon returned to swishing back and forth like an anxious, spade-tipped pendulum.

Still holding his hand (and trying to memorize how it felt without his gloves on), you said, "I'm sorry, too. And I'm nervous." You could already taste your nausea return with that single statement. "But ignoring it will only make everything worse. So come on, let's go, you're obviously not gonna let me wash my hair properly since you're so distracting."

Your last remark was a mistake. All while you fumbled with the knob to turn the shower off, Bendy purred, pressed himself against your backside, and squeezed various parts of your body, asking you if he was distracting. You didn't answer, but you thought to yourself that nothing he did grabbed your attention more than hissing softly and amusedly in your ear, occasionally allowing his fangs to snag your skin. It even guided your attention away from your churning stomach (down which Bendy was slowly tracing his fingers). You didn't thump the ink demon again, but you did swiftly whip around to snap at him. The scolding was to no avail, however; he became deeply interested in his ability to see your front while caressing you.

"Oh, just go," you said, lightly batting Bendy away when he cooed softly and cupped your cheeks.

The cartoon obeyed, though not before quickly pressing his lips to yours then prancing away. You leaped out of the shower after him only to see Bendy gamboling away down the hall. His loose movements yet lanky form gave him an awkward grace. You grabbed a towel, then pursued him at a slower pace, not wanting to further upset your already tingling stomach, and found the ink demon sniffing around your shared bedroom for his gloves. Tossing the ink-stained sheets around had scattered feathers everywhere so that the room looked more like a war zone than where you liked hiding away from the world with Bendy.

"You got water everywhere," you complained, skirting around a large puddle Bendy left at the foot of the door.

His head popped up over the bed. "And?"

"It's wet."

"One of the fascinating things 'bout water," Bendy drawled and flicked his tail, scattering another cascade of droplets over the carpet, "is its wetness. That, ‘n its ability to evaporate."

"And your reward for being a sarcastic asshole is doing the laundry," you retorted in an overly enthusiastic game show host's voice. "Congratulations! Throw your gloves and bow in really quick before we leave, then take them out and put in the bedsheets to wash while we're gone. I have to go get an outfit." Your hasty departure left no room for arguing. Bendy gaped at the space you had occupied, cursing himself for walking into his punishment and not reacting sooner.

Upset but having no other choice, he snarled in disgruntlement and tore the covers off the bed. The growls echoed throughout the staircase you hurried down once you picked out your clothes. While Bendy had a one-sided pillow fight (more like hissy fit) upstairs, you sniffed around the kitchen for breakfast, but any whiff of food you caught made your sensitive stomach churn. Only when it became obvious that anything you choked down would eventually find its way up again did you admit defeat and slump down empty-handed at the dining room table. You clasped your hands over your stomach. The anxiety Bendy had temporarily chased away returned with a vengeance, filling your head with only the worst of the worst-case scenarios. You didn't even want to describe them in case you jinxed your mission, but there was still the threat of losing everything, which was so awful it made your entire chest constrict and eyes blur. But that couldn't happen. Barely any chance of it happening, at least.

Your rationality battled with the fear and restored your confidence but left a healthy dose of caution behind.

You had this handled, and if not, the king of improvising was on your side. Mind made up, you told your nausea to shove it and resolved to choke down a decent meal since you had not slept and needed all the extra energy you could get. By the time you had picked out some mild food you could stomach, the sun had risen to a confident, bright position, and Bendy had finished stripping the bed.

You watched him struggle down the last few steps. A fond laugh couldn't help but escape you at the sight of the enormous ball of stained blankets, sorted by two long, skinny legs. Hearing your amusement, the ink demon hissed loudly, though the fabric covering his face muffled the angry noise. He kicked the door open to the basement and stumbled down the second flight of stairs on his journey. The only the only thing keeping Bendy from falling was his thin tail, carefully balancing him as he descended.

He soon reappeared as you forced down the last bite of your breakfast. Laughing again, you pushed away your plate and sidled up to the cartoon to wrap your arms around his waist. Despite your usual no-nonsense demeanor being as apparent as ever, you were especially affectionate today, for obvious reasons.

"Did you put your stuff in first?" you looked up at Bendy with your chin on his chest and asked.

"Yeah," he grunted and rested his own pointed chin on the top of your head.

"How much time until it's done?"

"Like, thirty, maybe twenty minutes."

"Okay, then we'll leave in like, thirty, maybe twenty minutes."

Bendy reared his head to meet your gaze again. "Isn't that a bit early?"

"No, not if I don't wanna keep you holed up here so you can really get into your asshole groove. So when the washer’s done, we’ll leave, then when we’re both at home we can do the sheets and whatever clothes are floating around down here, and don’t tell me there aren’t any because I know there are.”

The ink demon grumbled when you finished your assertion by dragging him over to your sunroom and settled for like, thirty, maybe twenty minutes before you sent him downstairs to fetch his gloves and bow. In the time Bendy was gone, you hurriedly pulled on your shoes, your anxiety to start the day rushing you. You were nearly ready to leave Bendy behind and stood halfway out the door by the time he came back upstairs, whining about his gloves being soggy but swift nonetheless. The two of you were out in less than a minute to greet the early morning air and sunshine

Clouds billowed on the horizon. To you, it wasn’t an evil omen so much as another activity to do with Boris and Alice later. One of the first things you had shown Bendy was a storm. It was only fair they got to see one as well. Bendy insisted upon walking rather than melting into a simmering puddle at your feet and darted over to your car to avoid being seen. His attempts were not needed: no one was outside to see him, anyway. Then again, you got the idea that Bendy enjoyed pretending to be an elusive ninja, so you said nothing and followed close behind, unlocking your car door and slipping inside. Bendy barrelled into the seat beside you and flicked water onto you with his gloves. You didn’t snap at him only because you wanted to leave as soon as possible, and a squabble with the on-edge cartoon would last hours.

The trip to the studio itself wasn’t long since you had avoided the rush hour by leaving at such an early time. However, the late spring sun shone strongly over the empty streets, making it seem later than it really was. You glanced up at it nervously when passing a stoplight, then sneezed.

Bendy, who had been fiddling with the lock on his door, looked over at the noise and grinned while gushing, “Humans’re so funny.”

“A sneeze,” you replied, resolutely staring at the road. “Hilarious.”

Bendy didn’t answer and followed your gaze to the surroundings. His muscles tautened as he recognized the road to Joey Drew Studios, but he refused to choke out any other light-hearted remarks through his tensed jaw to lift his spirits. It became easier to hide his inner turmoil from you when you approached the studio and he had to melt into a puddle on the warm asphalt to follow you across the desolate parking lot. There was no possible way he would come anxiously chattering to you when he had been so confident a few days beforehand, or last night, for that matter. His feelings swayed back and forth, resulting in the complicated mingle of angst and affection you sensed from him earlier that morning.

Finally, the cartoon’s emotional pendulum swung back to confidence as he reformed behind you and took in a breath of the musty studio air. The door shut behind him, plunging him into cold, candlelit darkness in the absence of sunlight, but his shaky arrogance remained. You turned to Bendy, perhaps to give him a few words of reassurance he would certainly reject, but faltered. Footsteps came from down the hall. Before either you or Bendy could flee, Joey Drew materialized down the hall, his hair and clothes more disheveled than ever. Dark circles lined his sagging eyes, a telltale sign of his lack of sleep, but the intelligence in his piercing state was as sharp as usual. His gaze caught you, and Joey turned, trance-like, to where you stood by the entrance with Bendy.

Ink splatters lined his hollow cheek. In his twitching, spindly hands was a few sheets of paper. You held your breath, not recognizing the papers, but hoping he wouldn't make anything of the compromising position you were in. At your side, Bendy was having a silent meltdown, tensed and terrified. Confidence slipped from his clammy hands, which then snuck over to yours to regain his trip on at least something. You covertly smacked him away. Although you felt horrible about it, you didn't want to give Joey a clear sign of your relationship.

But he probably already knew by the way he was fixated upon you.

“How are you doing, (Y/N)?” asked Joey Drew, icy, mocking.

It was like plunging into the Arctic Ocean.

Instead of answering his question, you refuted, “How are _you_?”

Joey didn't answer. Rather, he narrowed his eyes, kept his back straight to retain his full height, then, removing his stare from you and placing it upon Bendy, stalked away without breaking eye contact until the darkness of a nearby hall swallowed him whole.

“Remember when I said Joey doesn't know anything?” Bendy turned to you and wheezed through his constructed throat, frantically grappling for your hands now that no one was in sight.

Feeling his thin yet strong form shaking uncontrollably was immensely disconcerting, to say the least. At the most, you were utterly terrified for him. “Don't go back on your word now,” you said, unsure whether to descend into hysterics like Bendy or adopt his fearlessness to restore the balance. “Look, even if he does know about us, it's like what you said, he doesn't know that as of tonight, he doesn't own you.”

“Who said he does in the first place?” he gasped and then looked down to hiss breathlessly at his knocking knees.

“No one,” you soothed, leading him down the hall to your office. “No one did. If you want, we can go talk to Allison and see if she's heard anything, then check in with Boris and Alice--”

“No!” heaved the ink demon with ferocity despite his obvious terror. “Anything Allison says is worthless at this point, and if the other two don't understand what you want them to do by now, then they're even stupider than I thought. Dumbasses.”

Your concern forced you to agree with him against your inner doubts. “Alright. You're fine. See, this is why I worry, because if you don't beforehand, then it all catches up to you like this…” you told him but not in a scolding tone so much as desperation for him to calm down.

The hall, at the end of which was the book you called an office, came into view. Now supporting half of the shuddering devil's weight, you lugged him into the small room, then allowed him to slump down into the floor where he began putting distressedly. In the current circumstances, the noises sounded wrong, but you figured he was trying to use the association purring had with good things to alleviate his fear. He grasped at thin air, stretching and closing his hands, then looked up at you. His expression was somewhere between doe-eyed and twisted in fear.

It made him look pitiful.

You decided Bendy was more important than some random animation to give to Joey. You fell to the floor beside Bendy, and he immediately flung himself at you, still crooning and shaking and emotions completely contradicting each other.

Allowing the ink demon to clamber over you, you said, his aggressive coos muffling you, “Like I said, this is why you don't ignore things. They come back and bite you in the ass later.”

Bendy retracted himself for you, able to speak normally now if nothing else. “I don't like feeling like this.”

“I know.”

“Because you're supposed to be the trainwreck. I'm not. I'm acting like you and I hate it,” he complained and tugged the fingers of his gloves.

“Thank you for the vote of confidence,” you said dryly, though you knew he didn't mean his statement to be hurtful. “I'm not gonna act like you and say everything is fine, because it's not. There's always room for mistake. Something could go wrong, Joey might actually know, but…” you took a calming breath before going on. “But it's unlikely. Not impossible, but unlikely. And even if something goes wrong, I always have you, my improvisor. Right?”

Bendy's black eyes bored into yours. He blinked slowly, then conceded, “Right.”

“Good. Here, we can go over what I planned. Where will you be?”

“Waiting for ya by the entrance.”

“Good. If not, I'll use Wally’s keys to get in if Joey locked me out, and I can go find you. Then?”

“Turn off the ink pressure and power.”

“And after, Ben’?”

“Destroy the Ink Machine, then steal the blueprints from Joey's office so he can't make another.”

“Getting into his office and desk with Wally’s keys, right.”

“Do I get a sticker?”

“Maybe, if you tell me what happens if we walk into someone or Joey finds out I'm in the studio and sends people after us.”

“Then we kill them,” Bendy crooned, this time genuine about the noise.

“Um, no, not really. Just incapacitate them.”

“Hit them over the head with a dustpan?” he suggested.

Laughing, you grabbed his hand and looked him in the eye fondly. “You've got the idea. We'll only look for Joey specifically, and then you can do whatever you want to him. Maybe not kill him, but I could look the other way while you leave him pretty close to it. Just make sure he won't try looking for us.”

“He'll try. He will. But if you were serious about leaving--”

“I was serious. I don't wanna have this conversation again.”

“Alright, since we're leaving…” Bendy trailed off, then glanced at you for confirmation if his statement sounded better you. In response, you pushed him playfully, which was good enough for him, so he went on: “Since we're leaving, then he won't find anything. Unless we leave Boris tied to a cross outside your house--”

Sick of his enmity for the wolf, you stated firmly, “Absolutely not.”

“Just an idea, toots,” he said and leaned toward you with a wide, fanged grin on his face. “I love you.”

You rolled your eyes and rested your head against his chest. “I love you, too. If you're feeling better, then I need to…” Your voice faded as you pulled away from him and made a move to your desk.

Before you could leave him, Bendy pounced on you and said, “No! No, just stay down here with me, please?” Sensing your reluctance to ignore work again, he elaborated, “I can always just give somethin’ of mine to Joey and say it's from you, y’know? I can do that. Just stay, please?” The ink demon finished his proposition by giving you what he thought to be a winning smile while yanking at the front of your shirt.

“Clingy,” you noted disdainfully but slumped down again anyway.

Delighted, Bendy wound himself around you, once again trying to ignore his nervousness despite what you told him. Then again, it was just his personality. Arrogant, oblivious, anti-social, and too carefree for his own good, but as long as he wasn't furious and taking his temper out in unhealthy ways (especially on you), then you wouldn't try changing who he was.

Joey eventually faded from your mind as well as the day passed. Voices came alarmingly close to your office, but you not once leaped away from Bendy to hide what you had with him. You didn’t care what other people thought anymore. No one did come down your hallway, though. Not even Allison. So you sat, for the entire day, listening to Bendy’s sluggish heartbeat.

When it came time for you to leave, Bendy relinquished you willingly, promising to see Joey for you. Before you could fully stand, however, a thin, gloved hand cupped one of your cheeks, pulling you back down to ink demon’s face.

To your surprise, Bendy didn't kiss you, as you had been expecting from the sudden touch. Instead, he pressed his lips to your ear, whispered, “We depend on you,” then moved to the cheek he wasn't holding, kissed it, and let you go.

His freezing breath made you shudder. Having no appropriate verbal response for him, you brushed a hand between his horns. He stared at you as you left, expression unreadable.

The effects of the cartoon’s level gaze followed you all the way home, your spine prickling despite the heat the sun had left behind. You couldn't even eat dinner since your nausea returned. All you could do was prepare. Wally’s keys in hand, dressed in a black Bendy would be jealous of, you left your house when the storm clouds that had moved directly overhead broke. Rain cascaded over you on your walk to the studio. You couldn't take your car since it was too conspicuous, and you didn't mind the extra exercise, but the movement jostled your sensitive stomach. Nervous was an understatement. Any adjective was an understatement. You could only apply words to your excitement over the fault of your undertaking that night. Having Bendy to yourself was something to die for.

The only problem is that you really may die for it.

Turning your head to the heavens like they could tell you your future, you saw that, although it was still raining, the clouds had parted, allowing the dying sun’s last light bathe the land in scarlet. In the dark red light, the rain looked like drops of blood, coating your face and the sidewalk at your feet in a warm, crimson liquid.

The corner of your lip twitched as you remembered the phrase for such a meteorological phenomenon. 

_The devil is beating his wife._

Shuddering against the precipitation, you moved along. The studio approached over the horizon, granting new energy to your steps and allowing you to soon slink up the front steps.

Wally’s keys handy, you tried the doorknob. It didn't budge. Tonight, of all nights, it was locked, but that didn't stop you. You found a few keys that may work, trying each in the lock until the door popped open for you.

Inside the studio, it was dark. Stiflingly dark. Heart pounding, you squinted in the gloom, hoping to make out Bendy's skinny form, although he probably wasn't there since the door had been locked. You couldn't see the ink demon. Clinging to the hope he was awaiting you, willing in the dark, you stepped into the eerily silent studio.

“Bendy?” you whispered.

No reply came.

“Bendy?” you repeated, slightly louder.

Still no reply.

Disheartened, you exhaled the breath you didn't know you were holding. If Bendy wasn't here, you would have to find him yourself, hopefully without walking into any walls on the way through the darkness. You turned back to the door, locking it again as to not raise anyone suspicions, then stepped back when it clicked shut. It was now or never. You faced the studio again, then paused.

A pair of cold, narrowed eyes met yours, causing ice to trickle down your back to your feet, freezing you in place.

“How are you, (Y/N)?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The devil is beating his wife because he is angry God created a beautiful day.
> 
> The rain is said to be his wife's tears.


	31. Sunset (Part Two)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "My Lord, I mean no offense, but I honestly thought you were smarter than that."
> 
> (Warning! Chapter contains extremely homophobic language, graphic depictions of violence, character death, and an off-handed mention of suicide. So, y'know, reader discretion advised.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, uh, it's TK, and sorry for what's probably my latest update ever. And most disappointing because, well, y'know how I said the ending of the story was gonna be split into two parts? And that this would be the final bit before the epilogue?
> 
> I lied.
> 
> There's gonna be three.
> 
> This is the SECOND to last part.
> 
> Yeah, yeah, I know, I'm disappointing and a piece of shit for updating so damn late, but again, there's just so MUCH for me to write, and I don't want y'all struggling through a 20,000+ word chapter. Plus, it's been nearly two months. I couldn't make you guys starve for some story any longer.
> 
> So, yes, Sunset is now THREE parts. Third part in progress right now, actually, since I don't wanna take as long as I did for this chapter. Then we can FINALLY move onto the epilogue, officially, without a doubt. One more part before then! I swear on my ferrets' life! NO MORE DELAYS!
> 
> And now I point you down to the chapter, since, of course, no more delays.
> 
> Have fun reading...

"How are you, (Y/N)?" came the cold, mocking tone belonging to none other than Joey Drew.

  
As if on cue, a candle flickered to life beside the animator, eerily illuminating his hollow cheeks. Sammy held this light source. Then another lit up, and another -- until the entire welcoming room was dotted with small flames in the hands of Joey's many followers. There was Shawn, standing behind Joey with a sour expression on his face as he watched you, but no Allison, or...

  
Bendy.

  
Oh, he was there, alright.

  
Locked in Joey Drew's chokehold with a hand clapped over his mouth, which had kept him from crying out a warning before you tumbled down the rabbit hole.

  
Although sickening fear rolled off him in waves, Bendy stared up at his creator with the utmost loathing. If the situation wasn't so dire, you would have laughed at just how much the ink demon resembled a sulky teenager. You almost did, but the sound of Joey speaking again brought you back to the chilling present.

  
"Aha!" he whispered when you came into focus through the candlelight. "Caught you."

  
You couldn't muster a snappish reply. Even if you could, your voice would have shaken so much that the menacing effect would have been lost on Joey. But in your face, there must have been a single terrified question: _how?_

  
"You think I didn't know?" drawled Joey smugly, almost victoriously.

  
Well, not almost. He did win, yet you clung to the hope you had a chance. The stupid, impossible, naïve hope.

  
"Bendy suddenly disappearing during the week, not mentioning how he was obviously enthralled by you even before you decided to sneak him away; those two idiots stumbling in here and only confirming what I already suspected, and..." Drew paused for a second to cast a sidelong glance at the pokerfaced Sammy before continuing, "You really shouldn't leave your windows open."

  
Your stomach cartwheeled. Bendy flushed an angry, dark gray in Joey's hold, his previously stiff tail trembling violently. He scrabbled at the animator's arms but didn't cause him to so much as blink. You, on the other hand, weren't furious so much as ashamed. Embarrassment flooded out from the pit of your churning gut to your fingertips. The window. Of course. You had opened that window and left it open all while Bendy... You shuddered. You felt utterly violated, like your skin was crawling with parasites eating away at your privacy.

  
Shawn spat disgustedly at you. So too did the other employees, but Sammy, Joey, and a handful around them remained silent in their judgment, though you saw a muscle jump in Joey's upper lip.

  
When the sneering died down, he went on, "I would keep you around to document the effects of, ah, such a union, but... I'm sorry to say I have other plans for you. I'm also sorry to say they're nothing like the plans _you_ made." Joey leaned forward for emphasis, pushing Bendy's head down until his chin touched his chest.

  
The ink demon didn't protest, only casting a terrified and enraged look up at Joey. His face was still a deeply uncomfortable, queasy shade of gray. You tried catching his gaze so that he would glance at you and wink, letting you know that he had a plan, that he knew exactly what he was doing and that he was simply acting, like the brilliant TV star he was. But he never acknowledged your silent pleads. Sickeningly enough, Bendy had eyes only for Joey. Those narrowed, hateful eyes burning holes in the animator's skull.

  
Ignoring the sting of his creation's spite, Joey bared his teeth in a very Bendy-like manner and squared his skinny shoulders, further shifting the cartoon.

  
"You're nothing but a _distraction_!" the animator suddenly screeched. His unanticipated fury hitting you like a brick wall, you unfroze and stumbled back a step, nearly tripping over yourself in shock. You knew Joey wouldn't have liked you and Bendy doing things you shouldn't do with your bedroom window open, but the ferocity of his hollers took you aback. It was like he had a personal vendetta against you.

  
"A distraction from his true role," Joey went on through gritted teeth, shaking with rage. "Putting ideas into his head, when the only thing that should be there is destiny, not blind hope and false _love_ ," he spat the word out like it was poison. "Your sick little infatuation for a living _god_ who doesn't even truly understand lowly human emotions. I'd chase you out myself if I didn't have a better use for your worthless physical self, this earthly form, a _death-trap._ " His previous screams dropped to a menacing hiss. "For once, instead of being a leech, sucking my wallet dry just like you've done with _him_ however many times..." An evil, revolted look tainted Joey's features when he glanced down at Bendy then back to you when mentioning your handful of affairs. Tears pricked your eyes, you were so embarrassed.

  
"Instead of being a leech, you'll finally be giving something to my cause. How fitting. The single act of a sacrifice will be the last act of your life." As he spoke, the corner of his lip twitched upward in dark amusement, but soon Joey Drew descended back into a hateful fit. "Your minuscule, meaningless life! Thinking you could make an impact on a star-becoming-deity... You idiotic, _female_ teenager, lower class, _mortal_ , you stupid _cu_ \--"

  
Swept up by his emotional tirade, Joey didn't notice his grip on Bendy slacken with every tremor wracking his body. So, before the animator could finish his final insult, Bendy, an expression of pure hatred on his narrow face, unhinged his jaw, bared his kitchen-knife incisors, then clamped his mouth shut, embedding his unnaturally long fangs as far as possible into Joey's hand.

  
"-- _nt_!" Joey finished before his mind registered what had happened.

  
There was a millisecond of a pause.

  
Then Joey Drew began to scream.

  
A bright red arc immediately spurted out of the wound. His body's natural response was to fling the ink demon off him, and Bendy took the opportunity in stride and barreled away from his agonized creator, not disappearing down a hall to hide somewhere far in the studio's recesses, as you expected him to do. No, Bendy made a beeline straight toward you and shoved you behind him against the wall, shielding you from the workers and keeping you as far away from them as possible. You didn't mind this as much as usual. You were glad to have a barrier between you and the raging Joey, who was stomping and screaming all sorts of obscenities over his mutilated hand.

  
Blood gushed out of the two deep, clean holes Bendy had made, the same blood that the ink demon was currently gagging on. A small drop dribbled down his chin, leaving a scarlet streak behind that sharply contrasted to his snowy complexion, but it was nothing compared to the sticky coating over Joey's hand. By then, the animator had somewhat calmed himself, but the bleeding was not staunched. He managed to tilt his head toward the two of you watching him from across the room and fixate you with a particularly murderous glare.

  
The display had confused and ruffled the rest of the crowd. They mulled uncertainly around Joey, awaiting orders before they aided him or converged upon you and Bendy. Most of them watched the animator's oozing hand in mild concern, whereas Shawn looked like he would jump on you for a couple of mousetails, and Sammy was as detached as ever.

  
Sweat made Joey's hair cling to his brow and shield his eyes from view. Bendy was breathing just as heavily, and for a moment, no one dared move.

  
Then, the cartoon protecting you finally spoke. "Why?"

  
His voice was low but teeming with underlying emotion, and the simple question didn't require much explanation.

  
Now sounding like an exasperated parent rather than a raving lunatic when speaking to Bendy, Joey demanded, "Why, _what_?"

  
"Why, this!" exploded Bendy, throwing up his arms for emphasis and forcing you to hunch while cowering behind him. "Why this, why _any_ of this? Why would you do this to us?!"

  
Joey narrowed his cold eyes at the inquiry, his composure regained and injury forgotten. He carelessly waved the surging crowd back, then sneered, "You really think I'm going to play the cliché and tell you all of my plans before carrying them out?" A violent snort erupted from him and squeezed another trickle of blood out of his palm. "I'm an animator! I make stories come to _life_. I know all about your stupid ploys and the archetype you're forcing me into!"

  
"I'm not forcin' you into anything!" Bendy yowled back. "I just wanna know why! I've a right to know instead of being 'n idolized pawn in your lil' greedy game, Joey! So tell me: what made you think this was okay?!"

  
Instead of answering, Joey Drew let out a furious flurry of rebuttals to the ink demon's demands, further insinuating the argument. Every character in the room seemed to have forgotten you as they latched their attention onto the verbal fight before them like Bendy slack-jawed in front of the TV. You, on the other hand, well...

  
You once told yourself that you most certainly did not need to hide behind a big bad devil.

  
Yet here you were, hiding behind a big bad devil.

  
"Don't you want to be a star, a _god_?!" shrieked Joey, making you flinch and dig your nails into Bendy's shoulders. "You could erase of all humanity's flaws! All the disease, discrimination, heartache, these lesser emotions... I'm giving it all to you. I did this all for _you_! Don't you want to be famous?!"

  
Bendy, ignoring your presence scrabbling at his backside, growled, "I used to. But not like this. Never like this." He went on and lashed his tail while snarling, "This isn't for me! This is what _you_ want! I never asked to be made!"

  
A twinge went through your insides at the uncharacteristic remark from Bendy, full of self-hatred. However unfitting it would be in the current situation, you wanted nothing more than to tap your forehead to his and tell the ink demon that despite he was an enormous thorn up your ass, you were glad he existed. Instead, you squeezed his shoulders to silently channel your desperate hopes and love through him.

  
The spade-like tip of his tail slid up your inner thigh in response.

  
Not expecting any acknowledgment from him, you jumped and had to bite your tongue to avoid squealing, then gawked down at the thin appendage. Bendy continued hissing at Joey as if nothing had happened, but his tail-tip brushed against you once more to make sure he had your attention, then flicked over to the right. It repeated the small, jerky movement before his entire tail curled and flicked toward the same direction.

  
Only you could interpret the signal, having been around Bendy long enough to know every quirk and tick of his, especially when it came to his tail.

  
The whip-thin, expressive tail that curled when he was amused, straightened when he was afraid, twitched in nervousness, lashed in anger, swayed like a pendulum when he was calm, and was now giving you your opening to escape and carry out your plans right under Joey's nose.

  
And if you didn't understand the first time, Bendy angled his horns slightly to the right. Subtle enough so that if anyone noticed, they would only think he was cocking his head or popping his neck. But you knew better than those unfamiliar with the ink demon and his means of expression.

  
Terrified but determined, you slid your hands down Bendy's shoulders to his back, placing a brief kiss between his shoulder blades to show you understood before pulling away completely. Although his voice remained as harsh as ever when snapping at Joey, the touch sent a tremor through his tail. You would have stood there for the rest of the day tracing all the contours over his backside just to see his reaction if you could ignore your current situation, but however much you wanted to, you couldn't. You had a job to do. Besides, if you pulled this stunt off, then you would have the rest of eternity to gawk at the cartoon and his oddly lean muscles.

  
The mouth-watering hope-bordering-on-fantasy chased away your lingering doubt so that you could take the first shaky step away from Bendy. Contrary to your fears, no one noticed the sudden movement. Your dark clothes and the shadows conspired to hide you. You took another few reassured steps. Still, no one began wailing to raise an alarm or jumped you from behind, so you snuck away with ease, wondering if this was how the ink creatures felt when they stalked through the darkness. Only when you made it to the forked hallways did you break into a scamper, keeping your footfalls as light as possible so that you wouldn't be stomping around the shadows. Guilt bubbled up your esophagus like bile when the voices you left behind rose to powerful bellows as the argument grew, but your current task would aid Bendy far more than some company while he chewed out Joey. You swallowed the acidic shame, then scurried to the Ink Pressure room. Your journey was surprisingly swift. No mindless cult-drones intercepted you on the way since they were all packed into the entry room with Bendy. All you had was a cardboard cutout of the ink demon watching over you.

  
Before entering the room, you inspected the replica, mentally pointing out all the ways it failed to live up to the real thing (no foot-long horns, saber-tooth incisors, gangly limbs, or whip-like tail amongst other things). You then turned your sights onto the adorable animation loop, recalling the one that had waved at you the first time you entered the studio. A bittersweet taste filled your mouth but you choked it down. Not all was lost yet. You couldn't waste time being sentimental.

  
You purposefully strode down the steps leading into the nook in a single bound and across the room to the cranny where the Ink Pressure switch awaited. A button controlled the system, and you rested your hand on it, uneasy about how simple it seemed. Bendy's voice snapping at you in your head to get on with it and that he didn't exactly have all night encouraged you to push the button. Overhead, the pipes groaned and clanked as they settled, the background noise of rushing ink fading away. The entire building relaxed when its stress was alleviated.

  
You had yet to feel the knot in your stomach unravel and glanced nervously at the ceiling. It was unlikely anyone else noticed the absence of ink roaring above their heads over Bendy screaming suggestions as to where Joey should stick The Illusion of Living, but you would have to hurry. You wanted neither to be caught nor leave Bendy alone for so long.

  
Next stop was the Main Power. This room wasn't quite as straightforward, what with the odd pedestals, so you yanked on the lever and knocked every object on display out of place for good measure. You also exhibited great self-control to not steal the Bendy plush. It would have been nice to have two at your disposal, but you figured having one toy and the real version was decent enough.

  
If you could even kid yourself that the real Bendy would still be yours after tonight.

  
Negativity fueling your grim determination, you backed away from the pedestals, hoping no one tried switching on the lights any time soon. The lack of power would make it much easier to escape and destroy the Ink Machine, the latter of which you then set off to do. If no one had realized something was afoot now, then they eventually will hear the racket you would make while bashing the Ink Machine to pieces. Being discovered away from Bendy and then pursued would certainly put a wrench in your shreds of a plan. You had yet to find Boris and Alice, as well as Allison, for that matter, and searching for them would be difficult with the cultists hot on your trail. But unless you found them along the way to the Ink Machine, there was no other option than to improvise.

  
Speaking of improvising, you soon approached the entry room. You also realized that your worries over someone hearing you ferret around the hallways were worthless: Bendy and Joey were screaming at each other so loudly you couldn't hear yourself think. In fact, when you peered at the scene from the shadows, you saw a few employees drop their candles to clap their hands over their ears, but the view was unremarkable next to Bendy. You couldn't see Joey since his back was to you, but the cartoon looked ready to explode. The half of his face that wasn't pouring ink was a raging hot gray, and his lip curled all the way back to reveal his bloodstained canines.

  
Joey's blood.

  
You nearly gagged.

  
"...Henry leave, why not _me_?!" you caught the last word of Bendy's most recent assertion.

  
"Leave?! You can't just leave! This is what I meant when I said she's been putting stupid fucking ideas in your head, like this is a part-time job you can drop anytime--"

  
"I can't 'just leave'? What, was that the same thing you told _him_ when he walked outta your shithole? The exit's right behind me, Joey! I can leave right now!"

  
Surprisingly, Joey's shoulders loosened at the devil's threat and he spoke, unconcerned. "Right now? Fine. Do it then. _Do it._ And leave the other two behind. You're perfectly capable of it, I know." His cool tone then dropped a thousand degrees below zero to an evil, icy hiss. "But capable isn't the same thing as willing, Bendy."

  
Unlike his creator, Bendy remained taut as a spring, yet desperation permeated his next demand. "Let me leave. Let _us_ leave."

  
"And what if I do. What if I did that, for whatever reason. Then what? All this work I've done, years of drawing and researching and discovering, all the things I did for you and your fame. Then what? I did this all for you. Your benefit. Humanity's benefit. They're one in the same, really."

  
"No," Bendy whispered hoarsely as the fight drained out of him in the form of ink pooling at his feet, upon which he had fixated his morose stare. "It's not. This isn't what I want. Joey, all I want is to leave. Let me go."

  
"Never," breathed Joey.

  
"Joey. _Joey_." Frantic obsidian flame in his eyes dancing wildly, Bendy outstretched his hands to stress his pleads, then whined, "Please."

  
Joey contemplated the ink demon for a heartbeat. He took in his widened eyes, the way he folded in on himself like a child when addressing his creator with such a heartfelt request, and the ink rolling off his body in sheets along with the smell of fear and submission. Bendy further shrank under his scrutiny.

  
Although it sounded like he had to force it out, Joey finally said, "No." His voice and verdict were so heavy you felt it dragging you down, but it was nothing compared to what Bendy had to endure. He couldn't disguise the agonized hatred unfurling across his face.

  
Drew softened when he saw the momentary weakness. Perhaps he thought it meant that the ink demon had given up, or it was safe for him to show his own feelings when discussing his decision, because he then explained, "You're all I have left of him. I can't lose you, too."

  
This was not the response Bendy wanted at all. His brief, melancholy interlude forgotten, he flared again, rounding on Joey and screeching, "What does that even _mean_?! Don't start pretending like you care now! This isn't how you treat people ya care about. Y’ave no right to care in the first place! You have absolutely no right to me _or_ my character! You stole me, gave me a life I didn't want, and kept me here! You _stole me_ from Henry!”

  
Bendy then received another response he didn't want. Drawing himself up to match the ink demon trying to tower over him, Joey laughed, a mirthless, cold laugh, and spat, “Is that what you think? That's _really_ what you think? You've deluded yourself this entire time, and for what reason?” His voice rose again to a victorious shriek. “Henry and I _both_ made you! He designed your character, and I…” Savage triumph shimmered in Joey’s eyes. “I made your personality. Everything you are, every thought, belief… It all came from _me_! Not to mention that I was the one to create you and make you what you are today. So tell me, Bendy: who really has more of a right to your character?”

  
Not a breath escaped Bendy’s white lips. In fact, he was paler than usual, devoid of all color. You never even noticed the soft grays and faint freckles that dotted his seemingly unblemished face until they bled away in his speechless shock. You also realized how you had failed to notice how much Joey’s statement meant to the cartoon. Now that you thought of it, it made perfect sense; humans experienced the very terror themselves. One you never personally experienced, but turning into your parents would be dreadful, like you were nothing more than an echo.

  
“Neither of you,” Bendy finally answered with none of his explosive fury from earlier, rather, venom dripped off of every low hiss, so potent he could have choked on it. “No one can own someone else. But’cha don't understand that, do you? You're not me! You're selfish and manipulative and _no wonder Henry left you_! You've learned _nothing_! You're still controlling people, especially _me_! This was all for your personal gain, you've never cared about anyone but _yourself_. You have NEVER cared about anything--!”

  
“ _I was in love with Henry!_ ”

  
Joey Drew’s sudden outburst cut off his creation’s last few howls. The audience, once tittering with shared trepidation, fell silent. Their buzzing had been unnoticeable until now. Joey, shoulders squared, red-faced as Bendy was gray, remained still as a statue, save for his cold eyes, which flickered nervously around his followers, taking in the shock dawning upon their features to replace the anxiety. His gaze then came to rest on Bendy. A different expression formed over the devil’s face. Instead of his jaw hanging and eyes widening, he curled his lip and lowered his brow in deep disgust.

  
Shawn beat him to speak, however. “You're _gay_?!” he exclaimed in revulsion, whipping around on Joey and backing away like homosexuality was contagious.

  
The animator immediately lashed out at the remark and snapped in his face, “Oh, don't act like you're so disgusted, Flynn, as if you aren't obsessed with Thomas!”

  
“Absolutely not. I'm not an arse bandit,” Shawn hissed back. He then spat at the man's feet and snarled, “You damn chutney ferret!”

  
And that was about when everyone exploded. Nearly the entire crowd converged on Joey Drew, except Sammy, who drew away with a grim, unreadable expression. Over the cultist’s uniform screams, you could hear one loud, icy, hissing voice above the rest, who also leaped for the animator, his tail streaming out behind him as he was airborne.

  
“Faggot!” shrieked Bendy when he threw himself into the fray. "You don't know the first thing about love, pissy queen! Not even being a fairy is an excuse!"

  
You saw a flash of Joey's mortified face in between the workers demanding answers from him or screaming obscenities. If you didn't know better about the animator's true colors, then you would have felt awful for him, but seeing as he deserved this treatment and far more, you only winced at the many slurs Bendy was hurling at him. It would have been wiser to take advantage of the chaos and finally move on to the Ink Machine, but the carnage was deadly captivating.

  
"Fruit! Fag! Cuck!" Bendy raked his fangs over any unfortunate limb to cross his path in his attempts to sink them into Joey's already battered hand, and with luck, tear it clean off his arm. "If you miss him so much, then why don't'cha go play _cock jockey_ with Henry again?! You wouldn't deserve him anyway!"

  
Embarrassment at the hands of his own creation further enraged Joey and his fist flew out to cuff one of Bendy's horns, but the demon took the chance to yank on Joey's arm and twist it until he screamed and let the mob drag him under its fierce waves of confused anger. A harsh chemical smell pierced the air as Bendy yowled, spattering ink droplets on the floor. The liquid ran off him in thick, black sheets staining the dusty wood at his feet.

  
Joey met the cartoon's savage sneer with wide, rounded eyes. His stare wasn't quite filled with fear, rather, he was humiliated and infuriated. Then his gaze drifted to a point over Bendy's skinny shoulder. Mild puzzlement replaced the cornered look; raging panic replaced the confusion.

  
"(Y/N)!" He let out a bloodcurdling scream, snapping everyone out of their frenzy. "Where did (Y/N) go?!"

  
Bendy froze. The workers dropped Joey (whereas Shawn continued growling at his boss).

  
They all turned to face the hallway where you were standing, transfixed.

  
There was a brief moment where no one dared breathe nor move, and the two sides could only observe each other. A thousand unblinking eyes rested upon you.

  
Shoving his employees, Joey made a small clearing for himself in the center of the welcoming room, holding his head high so that even with his haggard appearance, he resembled a leader. Though he was more like a dictator.

  
"What are you idiots waiting for?" shrieked Joey Drew to rally the crowd. "GET HER!"

  
The barrier between you and the mob shattered and they snapped into action, surging upon you in a cruel, brainwashed tsunami. Joey would have gotten ahold of you first, but his attack was usurped by Shawn, who struck the animator across the face and forced him to the ground. Joey focused on this new threat rather than you and screamed at Shawn over the homophobic obscenities. The toymaker stood no chance against the unhinged wrath of Joey Drew. Beyond the crowd closing in on you, you saw the bright red pouring from Shawn's nose after Joey shattered it with a wet crunch. They disappeared, wrestling underneath their coworker's feet, but you wouldn't have stuck around to watch, anyway.

  
You were too busy fleeing for your life. Once the mob closed in and prepared to pounce, you spun on one heel and darted away as fast as your legs could carry you. At first, you were tempted to let the wave overcome you since Bendy was in there somewhere, but, however much it pained you to leave him behind, you had to move. There was so much to do, and lurking around to watch the ink demon scream at his creator was a mistake. Now you would be lucky if you made it out with your own life, never mind the three cartoons' or Allison's.

  
The chase had only just begun, yet your insides were already aflame, bile scorching your throat and hot tears pricking your eyes. Anxiety made it hard to breathe as it was, but this was torture. Deficient of oxygen, your overworked muscles ached with lactic acid, and judging from the burning sensation in your leg, you had torn something. Hopelessness closed in on you and hysteria built up in your chest with every sharp turn you made, slamming into corners. Every pained cry or accidental injury made your pursuers even hungrier for capture. They thundered behind you like a wolf pack picking off the weakest prey to tire out and feed on, or a cat stalking a bird. They were the ever-present force keeping you moving, though you felt your drive pour out of you with every footfall.

  
To your relief, many people had fallen back, shrieking angrily at their inability to catch you or screaming for forgiveness from their leader and Lord at their incompetence. But there was still an alarming amount of people, so you continued skidding further down the studio's depths and your own despair. At least, until hope flashed before you in the form of a jet-black blur rocketing down the hall.

  
"Come on!" Bendy screeched back at you when he managed bound ahead of the mob. "I know you're short and got little legs, but let's _go_ , (Y/N)!"

  
"I do NOT have little legs!" you hollered but had to choke down a hysteric, gleeful whoop while pursuing the cartoon. There was never a moment in which Bendy failed to make you laugh, even while faced with your untimely demise.

  
The extra burst of speed you put on to outrun the ink demon left the last of the crowd behind and you slowed to a jog until Bendy grabbed your wrist and yanked you sharply around the corner to a narrow, dead-end hallway. You didn't have the breath to snap at him for nearly dislocating your shoulder and besides, he had you bundled safely against his heaving chest, feverish lips pressed to the top of your head as he struggled to find his footing and slid down the wall.

  
"Sorry for pullin' ya," he croaked once the two of you were slumped on the floor. "I didn't mean to hurt'cha, but hopefully that got rid of the last of 'em."

  
You couldn't find the strength to reply yet, so you rested your eyes, pretending that if you tried hard enough, you could pretend you were at home having another midnight TV marathon with Bendy for which you were struggling to stay awake. His sluggish, offbeat heart lulling you to sleep, and his amused purrs as he commented on the human need for sleep when really he was delighted you felt so at ease in his arms...

  
But the scent of blood, sweat, ink and tears anchored you to the present.

  
"No... I'm sorry," you finally wheezed. "It's not your fault for that. If anything, it's mine. This was my idea in the first place, and I... I'm so sorry. I was wrong. I was so, so wrong."

  
"(Y/N)," cooed Bendy in such a sweet tone in made your insides rot. "(Y/N), (Y/N), (Y/N), it's not your fault." Venom then seeped into his still comforting purrs to make his voice a deadly concoction of sugared toxicity. His breath wreathed you in a poisonous cloud not of ice, but blood. "It's _Joey's_. You've done everything for me. I _love_ you, (Y/N)." He chuckled, then added, "You and your little legs. And you weren't wrong. I was. I was wrong about Joey not knowing. (Y/N), I was so wrong about so many things. Maybe this is actually my fault." He choked on the confession, which was so unlike his arrogant self, then went on, "But dammit, how did he know in the first place?" The ink demon pressed his tongue to the inside of his cheek in deep thought. "Dammit, dammit, dammit..."

  
Bendy then went on to quietly drone more cuss words in your ear. You didn't bother to tell him to shut up and think logically, instead wondering where he picked up such a colorful vocabulary and how he did so, being a cartoon for children. The arm he had wrapped around you was stiff and unmovable, like he had been as terrified as you were of never embracing again after Joey's speech. You would have relished the comfort it gave you in spite of your physical and emotional aches, if not for the shuffling you heard emanating from the main hall. Bendy, too busy wracking his brains for more choice words to describe Joey, didn't sense the disturbance even with his unnaturally strong hearing. In the end, it was you who threw off his grip and packed him into the nearest office before leaping in and quickly shutting the door, leaving the two of you in hazy darkness.

  
"What the hell?" said Bendy in peevish confusion, his voice far too loud.

  
You pressed your thumb over his lips to keep him from growling out anything else and murmured urgently, "I heard something. I think someone saw us come down here, and they came to check."

  
The gloom prevented you from seeing anything, but the cartoon's aura shifted from annoyance to understanding. He brushed your hand off his face and whispered, "Right. Good catch, doll. For a second I thought ya just wanted one last--"

  
"Are you seriously joking now of all times?" Eyes adjusted to the new environment, you could make out faintest outline of Bendy's white face and gloves and gave him your strictest face although you knew he wouldn't see it.

  
"Sorry." When the ink demon spoke again, his voice was a mellow, defeated squeak. It sent a sharp pang through your heart and made your expression melt.

  
"It's okay. I'm sorry for snapping. But I am sorta pissed about what you were saying."

  
"Which is?"

  
"Like it would be our last time. Like I'd lose you."

  
Deep sarcasm soaked his next statement. "And _that_ would _terrible_."

  
"Bendy," you warned, cautious of him treading such dangerous waters and possibly relapsing into his uncaring asshole self.

  
"(Y/N), I'm jokin' again. Look, I've told'ja this before, I don't wanna lose you, either. Dammit, of course I don't want to, I'm terrified of that, especially now 'cause of Joey." A snarl rumbled in the back if Bendy's throat when he spoke of the animator. "It all comes back to Joey. Hell, this isn't my fault, it's _his_ , for acting like this in the first place. How did he know...?"

  
To comfort to the devil, you would have brushed your lips against his if he didn't have his fingertips pressed to them in thought. It also hurt your damaged leg to stretch up that far, so you reached for his free hand and whispered, "At least now you sorta know why he is the way he is."

  
Obsidian optics burned holes in the side of your head. "S'not an excuse."

  
"No, but it makes more sense. I mean, I wasn't expecting that specifically, but... were you?" you inquired, recalling Bendy mentioning he had a few theories as to what drove Joey to such evil.

  
"Actually, yeah. It was one of my thoughts, but I didn't think it would turn out he really was a fag." Then he laughed, mirthless, bitter as the ink that comprised him. "Now I know where Alice gets it from."

  
You had no reply fit for this dry remark, so you remained silent, leaving the ink demon to dwell on the rest of his unconfirmed thoughts. You couldn't tell if there was still someone lurking about in the hallways. Worse comes to worst, you would be happy to wither away in the studio's depths, so long as you were with Bendy. Your will would be simple: leave everything to the ink demon. You also wanted a Viking funeral. That is, if Joey didn't get ahold of your deceased body for his rituals.

  
Interrupting your bleak plans for the future, which were so different from the stargazing life you had envisioned with him, Bendy repeated in a rumbling mutter, "Where Alice gets it from... Joey..."

  
"Ben'?" you said hesitantly, uncertain where his train of thought was heading.

  
"Alice," he dropped to a low growl. "And now I know where Joey got it from, too."

  
"Got what from?"

  
"It was Alice!" yowled Bendy, forgetting to be silent. " _She TOLD him!_ "

  
Simultaneously, your stomach sank and your heart leaped up your throat. It was difficult to remind the cartoon to keep his hissing voice down when you were struggling to swallow. Anxiety and betrayal was not a good combination, especially when anger was boiled into the mix. Alice, who had seemed so happy at the mere notion of seeing Susie again. There wasn't much evidence to condemn her, yet you couldn't possibly see Boris spilling to Joey, and those two cartoons were the only others who knew of your plans. You hadn't even told Allison.

  
Vision blurred, you hypocritically told Bendy, " _No_. No, we don't know that, we don't know what happened. Joey could have tortured it out of them or found the papers; Ben', it couldn't have been like that..."

  
Fast as the crack of a whip, Bendy whirled on you, his usually cool breath hot with the smell of iron. "How would he have the faintest clue of what we were doing, then?! Aside from in the _fucking bedroom_!" You flinched, but the ink demon went on furiously, "He wouldn't know what to look for if he even knew he _should_ be looking for something. And why would they be so careless with what'cha wrote? Boris is a twit and Alice is a clueless dyke, but damn, I didn't think they were so fucking stupid. No, I bet'cha Alice told Joey everything just so she could get a pat on the back, job well done, you're actually _useful_ for once from that manipulative faggot."

  
Without having any real vent for his anger, Bendy's breaths grew ragged, and he collapsed in on himself, tugging his own horns like a person comically yanking out their hair. You wanted so badly to comfort him, to envelop him before he shattered and promise him lies of your future under the stars, but you weren't sure how he would react to being touched right now. Besides, it was hard to shed some light on the situation when Alice had betrayed you, too. This awkwardness must have been the same Bendy felt whenever he was unsure how to react toward you and your disgustingly human emotions. So, unlike Bendy, you took initiative and threw your arms around his midsection instead of running in emotional circles. Shudders rippled through his body at the embrace and his shoulders were wracked with silent heaves. You wound around him even tighter to squeeze all of the negativity away.

  
Numb, quiet, the ink demon slowly pulled his hands away from his face to return your hold in acknowledgment and appreciation of your actions. He went still for a moment, wrapping you in a grip like iron, then stiffened angrily, muscles taut as a bowstring. He looked down at you, curled around him for his happiness, which you had told Bendy was all you ever wanted for him anyway.

  
This is what Alice had cost him. _You_.

  
Wait. No, not Alice. She was nothing but an idiot, craving love from the wrong people, desiring nothing more than to please and receive approval. She didn't truly understand the deeper meaning behind emotions.

  
This was Joey's fault. Joey cost him this. Bendy had nothing to begin with, and when he finally did find something, his creator wanted to rip it from his fingertips. Literally, he mused sorrowfully and squeezed you as to make sure Joey hadn't stolen you yet.

  
There was no excuse. Only revenge, and the metallic taste of Joey's blood suddenly bursting over Bendy's tongue as he sunk his teeth into his hand...

  
Scarlet clouded the cartoon's sight. " _I'm going to KILL THEM--_ "

  
"Another instance in which you could stand to not be so loud," a disembodied voice interrupted Bendy's outburst.

  
Another bullet of anxiety shot through you. Your poor heart wouldn't be able to take much more stress. You looked up, peeling your head away from Bendy's chest to put a face to the intruder, then wished you had buried yourself so far into Bendy's hold you would suffocate.

  
It was, of all people, Sammy Lawrence.

  
You also wished you had told Bendy to be quiet when you had the chance.

  
The ink demon, like you, froze. Whether it was in fright or fury, you didn't know.

  
Sammy took it for shock and drawled in his usual inhuman and uncaring tone, "Funny. I came down here on a hunch, only because I thought I saw someone run this way. I was about to leave, too, until I heard something. And screaming again just confirmed it." The musician shook his head, expression carefully blank. "My Lord, I mean no offense, but I honestly thought you were smarter than that."

  
In response, Bendy detached you from his side, bunched his muscles, then sprung all in the same millisecond. He arched gracefully through the air, tail streaming out behind him for balance, letting out an almost lion-like, snarling roar. This was the perfect opportunity to vent his anger and fears in the form of combat.

  
Time slowed. The silver glint of a blade caught your eye as Sammy reacted, unsheathing the long knife he had hidden snug against his body for protection. He reached his free arm up to block Bendy's descent upon him. The instinctual motion did little to shield him from the full weight of a raging demon crashing into him from above, however. The impact sent them tumbling into the hallway. Bendy had latched onto the front of Sammy's shirt so that escape was futile, and the second they skidded to a halt, he began the process of rearranging the cultist's face. Sammy could only just keep the ink demon and his wicked incisors -- which he kept gnashing angrily, biting at nothing but air -- at bay by pressing a hand against his throat. Eventually, he went limp underneath his attacker, slithering in the blood gushing from the wounds Bendy had torn open on his face.

  
When the grip on his neck slackened, Bendy let out another roar more fit for a feline. You didn't even know he could make that noise. He swooped down on Lawrence, prepared to deliver the killing blow -- in the same instance that Sammy surged upward.

  
Unprepared for the musician's uprising, Bendy jumped to his feet and stumbled. Sammy took advantage of his imbalance and moved onto the offensive. He brandished his knife, glittering as coldly as Bendy's teeth. His eyes were nearly swollen shut from horrendous, oozing black-and-blue bruises. The sliver of them you could see glinted malignantly as he thrust his blade forward.

  
Bendy shrieked. It was this noise that brought you to your senses and you sprang for Sammy, not nearly as gorgeous as Bendy in your movements, but all you cared about was ending the fight as soon as possible.

  
In the meantime, Bendy had fended for himself. He raked his fingers over his attacker's already damaged eyes to force him to stumble away, crying out from the pain, but Sammy recovered alarmingly quick and tried towering over the ink demon with his black-stained dagger. This time, Bendy wasn't as merciful in Sammy's punishment for daring to attack him. Instead of clawing Lawrence's optics, he dug his thumbs into them and twisted, teeth gritted in malicious concentration. Sammy screamed almost as loud as the cartoon had and lashed out wildly in compensation for his lack of sight.

  
Fear constricted your throat when his sticky, damp blade cut through the air mere inches away from Bendy's face. Yet he not once flinched, refusing to move away and let Lawrence take advantage of his pity. It was time for you to intervene.

  
Before Sammy could shred the ink devil, you jumped between them, shoved them apart, and seized Sammy's weapon. Surprise was your only ally. Sammy couldn't see who had impeded him through the fluids gushing out of the tattered flesh where his eyes were supposed to be, giving you the upper hand.

  
So without thinking, you took the opportunity and plunged the very knife used against Bendy into the battered man hulking over you.

  
Sammy's breath caught. Such a small, insignificant whisper passing through his lips. You tightened your grip on the dagger, then yanked it out to let the liquid life gush from Sammy Lawrence's chest. He paused, and despite no longer having eyes, you felt his gaze rest upon you, the same stare that could scrutinize your soul now stricken when beholding his killer.

  
Weeping scarlet tears, Sammy Lawrence said nothing, and fell to the floor, entire body curving with the descent, supple, elegant, handsome.

  
Dead.

  
Left to decay in a pool of his own blood and waste, eye sockets forever watching the ceiling. Because of you.

  
You, tainted with the sin of murder, gawking at the human life you had taken, the butchered body now a husk of the man who terrorized you so. Your knuckles whitened around the blade's handle. It was warm and wet, coated in red fluid...

  
"(Y/N)," whispered Bendy from behind you. You shut your eyes. The sound was so comforting, so familiar, so loving it hurt. It hurt as much as your eyes being torn out or being run through with a knife--

  
"(Y/N)," he repeated urgently and stepped forward next to you to ogle at Sammy's carcass. The sight made him even more insistent. "(Y/N), c'mon, we have to go, we have to _move_ , (Y/N)." If it weren't for the blood on his gloves, he would have took your hand, cupped your face, done anything to get you to look at him so he could fix your dull expression. But he only had his words and the voice you loved so much.

  
"We can't stay here, (Y/N). Please, we need to go, more people will come and we have other things to do."

  
"Other things to do," you finally echoed, shuffling toward Bendy but not looking him directly in the eye.

  
"Other things to do," he agreed in such a sad tone, then turned and bled into the shadows.

  
You followed close behind at a swift jog, content to let him lead both because you had no destination in mind and were mentally incapable of doing so. Your pace increased until you were practically sprinting after the ink demon. Your torn leg burned, but you welcomed the searing ache with every step. After a few staircases down, Bendy halted, chest heaving, then slipped inside another room, pulling you along with him. There was nothing special about the space. It was a mere supply closet, but the moment the door closed, Bendy let out a spluttering gasp ending in a wheeze as he sunk to the floor. You plopped down beside him, sending a bolt of pain up your tailbone at the harsh landing. You could hardly care, let alone notice it when you were entranced by the dagger still in your hand. There was a pause filled with the ink demon's ragged inhalations. Then you threw the blade as far away from you as possible, chucking it at the opposite wall where it clattered and fell. It twinkled innocently at you from the floor. So innocently, you screamed yourself hoarse at it, then descended into a messy, weeping fit. You almost buried your face into your palms before noticing the gooey red clots staining them, caked underneath your nails and sticking your fingers together...

  
You cried even harder. Recovering enough to drag himself closer to you, Bendy murmured, "(Y/N)?"

  
"I killed him," you gave an ugly sob back. "I didn't even think about it, I just _killed_ him, Bendy, I took someone's life for no good reason--"

  
"Whaddya mean, 'for no good reason'?" he retorted harshly, but at least sounding more like his usual peevish self rather than a breathless blob. "(Y/N), y'ad all the reason in the world. Not even mentioning the horrible things he's done to deserve that, he woulda killed _me_. Am I no reason? You did what you had to. Even if I wished you didn't have to." His abrasive hiss dropped to an indulgent, soft purr when he repeated, "You've done everything for me. You don't deserve to feel guilty. Saying it can't change the way you feel, I know, but ya shouldn't feel guilty. If anything, I should. This is all my fault," he lamented, voice cracking along with the remains of your heart at the sorrowful sound. "You shouldn't have needed to do that in the first place. You shouldn't have needed to do any of this. I say Joey is the cause of all this, and he is in a way, but... I also shoulda never gone home with you in the first place. I didn't think this would happen. I made a mistake."

  
"Are you calling me a mistake?" you said thickly, no longer in tears, but your stomach sank at the last part of what Bendy had said.

  
The ink demon winced and replied quickly, "No, I... I didn't mean to make you fall in love with me. I didn't know you even _could_."

  
"You didn't _make_ me do anything, and I don't know how _you_ can still love a murderer."

  
The faintest of smiles tugged at the corner of his mouth. "I'm not that picky. I'll always love you."

  
"And I love you, too, but not because you made me. Jackass."

  
"Right, babe. I love you, your little legs, and your freewill." Unable to suppress it, a lazy grin spread across his face. "And I dunno if I've told you, but I think I've a thing for a broad with a knife, too."

  
The laugh Bendy had been hoping for rang out, stretching his smile further. However guilty he was over your relationship, he was glad he had been able to alleviate your weight of your burden. No one should be troubled over killing Sammy, of all people. Nonetheless, Bendy would have much rathered himself be responsible. You didn't deserve to be so broken. He wanted you whole, pure, and safe.

  
When your laughs subsided into shaking shoulders and the occasional snort, he brought a hand to your face. You stiffened, expecting to feel bloodstained fabric brush your cheek, but instead his bare fingers brushed over your skin. You weren't sure when he had peeled off his gloves, but you immediately relaxed and leaned into the touch. You were unable to return it, since you doubted Bendy would appreciate your sticky mitts all over him and however much you wanted to peel off your own skin at times, they were not gloved. They were still warm with blood, and the fluid rushed under your palms as if they were placed in a pool...

  
But that wasn't right.

  
Before you could meet Bendy, who had begun leaning forward, you glanced down to your splayed hands.

  
There wasn't any lingering sensation of Sammy's blood slicking the knife handle you gripped while stabbing him. Ink bubbled up at your fingertips, and it was pouring out of Bendy's abdomen.

  
"(Y/N)," the ink demon sighed, though it wasn't a sort of dreamy sigh.

  
It was more like he was exhaling his own life

  
You jerked away from his lips, which were mere centimeters away from yours. In your rejection, Bendy slumped against the wall, eyes shut as he whined. Now you knew why he had been so winded when entering the dingy closet. You had just been too wrapped up in your misery to see it.

  
"Bendy... You're hurt. He got you, Bendy, why didn't you _tell_ me?" you squeaked in silent terror, though you really wanted to scream while watching the ink gush out of his ragged wound.

  
"No, 'm fine," he insisted weakly. "I heal real fast, you know that, I'm okay, I've been holdin' out until just now, see..."

  
You were no health expert, but you were pretty sure that sitting in a ever-growing pool of your own inky blood didn't qualify as "fine". Biting your lip to stifle your oncoming sobs, you snatched up his gloves, which were discarded at his side, and pressed them to the gaping black hole. Your hands shook violently with suppressed terror. There was too much ink flow for you to staunch it, anyway. The grays disappeared from Bendy's face again as he lost more and more fluids.

  
Bendy would bleed out under your trembling fingertips no matter what you did.

  
A chemical smell heavy in the air and your harsh anxiety brought back your nausea from earlier in the morning. It didn't help that in his bloodied stupor, Bendy had begun halfheartedly scrabbling at your arms, begging for you to calm down and kiss him. Ignoring his keening pleas, you peeled his gloves away from the wound. They were utterly soaked. Panic closed in on you when the puddle underneath Bendy spread and his breaths became shallower with every one he wasted on appealing to you.

  
"Fuck," you choked out, tears running freely down your face as you hurled yourself against the closet's shelves to search for ink. It was the only thing that could possibly heal Bendy. " _Fuck_."

  
"S'not a nice word," came Bendy's deathbed commentary.

  
"I know, I _know_ , Ben', can you give me a nicer word to use?" Anything to to keep him anchored to life for the time being.

  
"Applesauce."

  
"That's a stupid word."

  
"Well, that's just not applesaucing true."

  
A hysteric laugh escaped you. There was not one single ink bottle to find. The puddle became a pool. Bendy groaned, then slid down the wall until he was curled up in his own bodily fluids. Just like Sammy had been...

  
Iron exploded in your mouth. You had chewed on your lower lip so much, it burst. The extra pain was nothing in comparison to when you stood up and fully saw the position Bendy had found himself in, as if the situation hadn't been dire enough. You stood on your tiptoes to frantically search for ink on the top shelves, and pulled away with more nothing. All but one of your hopes faded. There were other places in the studio that had ink, obviously, and you could go hunting for some, but...

  
You would have to leave Bendy. A dying, babbling Bendy who was droning on about why you should have just shut up and kissed him.

  
Yet staying would surely be a death sentence.

  
It was no competition. Bendy may have liked telling you that you'd done everything for him, but really, you would have killed yourself from sheer loneliness by now without him. You could return the favor and save him.

  
"Bendy," you whispered through your tears to gain the ink demon's attention.

  
In response, Bendy let out a stuttered, gurgling purr.

  
The sound stomped on whatever was left of your heart, so you hastily informed him, "I'm gonna go look for something that can help you. I'll get lots of ink to replace what you lost, and some rags to clean you up. For now, you can use the cloths in here to hold you over. They're in a bucket on the bottom shelf. Just... I'll be right back. Don't go anywhere."

  
"Aw, man, what about that marathon I was gonna run later today? Or punching Alice. I really gotta do that. We coulda had the _best_ sex when we got home, too. (Y/N), please don't leave me--"

  
Not even murdering Sammy hurt as much as closing the door on him.


	32. Sunset (Part Three)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "...you're gonna have falling. they don't call it rising in love. that's why i love us! because we know what will happen when we fall! and i gotta tell you stop thinking about the landing, because it's all about falling."
> 
> -John Green and David Levithan, Will Grayson, Will Grayson
> 
> (Warning! Chapter contains major character deaths, graphic depictions of violence, and homophobic language.)

A shadow flitted throughout the studio, stalking the corridors, hugging the walls to remain enveloped in comforting darkness. Your steps were silent yet swift. The hallways were eerily quiet so deep in the workshop, but blood roared in your ears, your heart a bird trapped in your ribcage, frantically beating its wings for freedom from this god-forsaken studio, and the hysteric, crushing heartbreak threatening to consume you.

 

You left Bendy. Left him to die. Alone in some dusty supply closet, in a pool of his own inky blood. Every minute you spent apart clawed your heart. There was not a single ink bottle to be found, nor a supply closet. Your motivation was the only thing holding you together. How funny was it that hardly an hour or so ago Bendy had kissed your cheek and told you he depended on you. You didn't think he had foreseen his life literally resting in your trembling, bloodstained, murdering hands.

 

Should such responsibility sustain you or crush you under its immense weight until your vision blurred and you couldn't breathe--?

 

Breathe.

 

A breath. In and out. This should not be a repeat of when you last braved the studio at night. Last time, you hadn't known what to expect. Last time, your relationship with Bendy had been taking its first shaky steps, your concern based off a hunch, contrary to the present. This time, Bendy was dying, Joey was hunting him, and you would not panic at the notion of discovery. Neither you nor Joey had something to hide. Everyone knew everything.

 

So instead of skittering around like an avian caught between a cat's claws, you became the predator. Your guilt faded, although "please don't leave me" and the scrape of blade-on-bone rang in your ears. A sharp pain clawed your insides whenever you recalled Bendy's rasping pleads and the cause of them, but again, this was the only way to help him.

 

You dragged the pads of your fingers along the wall while prowling.

 

You would set him free.

 

Ink slid beneath your touch, gooier than Sammy's blood. You followed the splatters, judging their consistency between your pointer and thumb before choosing the path of thicker ink. Perhaps it would bring you to a leaky pipe. You would have broken one yourself by now if it wouldn't have attracted unwanted attention.

 

You glared at the silent plumbing above. As a predator, you shouldn't fear confrontation -- you should welcome it -- but after Sammy... Enough crimson stained your hands. Besides, you weren't stupid enough to jeopardize your safety and sentence Bendy to death in the process.

 

Dangerous territory -- your chest ached. You steered your mind away from the madness and continued. Underhand, the ink thickened. You had descended another level down the studio. Further away from the cultists.

 

Further away from Bendy.

 

Your fingers no longer left a clear trail, rather, faint impressions slid through the fluid. You pulled them away. They were sticky enough with the blood of your enemy and lover. Dust floated through the air and coated your tongue, laying as heavily on your lungs as your mournful guilt did on your conscious. Every creak of the floor alarmed you, and you halted, tempted to scold the decayed wooden boards for being as loud as your rickety stairs when...

 

Voices. In your hesitation, a distant conversation reached your ears, so far you would have missed it had you carried on. You angled your head to the left. Then the right. Straining your ears as much as possible, you slunk toward the disturbance, eager to discover whether they were friend or foe. It could mean the difference between life and death for Bendy, after all.

 

"...screw the safety bolt...?"

 

"No! ...you'll blow every pipe... unhook the safety..."

 

"...sure? ...harder than comparing..."

 

"...it's not that difficult! Just keep an eye on the gauge."

 

Every step earned you another word. The two voices were male, to your disappointment -- you hoped one would be Allison, but this was better than nothing. They were so close, their tones like gruff music to your ears. You would have been running if you didn't need to maintain a low profile.

 

But you were close enough that your scampers closed the final gap between you and salvation. Racks of Bendy dolls swam in your peripheral vision, yet not one tempted you.

You swerved past a corner where Wally Franks and Thomas Connor stood next to a damaged pipe, bristling as they sized each other up.

 

"Look, pal," Wally began in an annoyed spit, "if you think I'm doing my job and yours, I'm outta here!"

 

Never have you been so relieved to hear Wally's bullshit.

 

Thomas' jaw hung angrily, fed up with the janitor, but his retort died on his lips when he glanced over Wally's shoulder to see you standing there in all your gritty glory.

 

"(Y/N)," he breathed, at a loss for words.

 

Upon his recognition, you were not the huntress, nor the hunted.

 

You were a depressed, lonely teenager who only ever craved company and had gone insane when threatened by the loss of love.

 

A small, broken noise escaped you. You didn't realize your knees had buckled until Thomas was in front of you, holding you steady when you shuddered and collapsed into him.

 

"(Y/N)?" Thomas repeated, bewildered, though, to your relief, he didn't shove you away. "(Y/N), what's wrong?"

 

"(Y/N)?" echoed Wally dubiously, gawking at your violently shaking form. "Aren't you supposed to be with the other employees in the break room for Joey's 'important' midnight meeting or whatever?"

 

You weren't aware of this event and thus, didn't care, no matter what it implied. It was just another scheme like the one that had doomed Bendy.

 

"Bendy!" you gasped and pulled away from Thomas' chest to gulp in air. Your tears were so hot they sizzled when cool air caressed your burning face. Your hitched inhalations obstructed your speech, so it came out in broken stutters: "B-B-B-B... B-B-Be... Be..."

 

Somehow understanding your hysteric sobs, Thomas held your shoulders and looked you in the eye. "Bendy?"

 

"Yes!" you screeched in his face, ferocious, no trace of tears now. Wally flinched in the background, but Thomas remained unfazed.

 

His thumbs massaged your shoulders in soothing circles. "And what about Bendy?"

 

A keening whine answered him. "Hurt."

 

"How?"

 

"St-St-St-Stabbed..."

 

"Where was he hurt?"

 

What was this, twenty questions? You placed a shaky hand upon Thomas' abdomen, miming how you had attempted to staunch Bendy's bleeding.

 

Darkness shrouded the mechanic's expression. "Who?"

 

"S-S-S-S..." You struggled to name the man you killed. "Sssss... S-Sa..."

 

Thomas' guessing game was impeccable. "Sammy?"

 

You nodded weakly.

 

The hands kneading your knotted shoulders fell away. You lowered your gaze like a scolded dog, wheezing between your tears until fingers danced under your chin and tilted your head back to watch Thomas' carefully smoldering eyes.

 

"Wally," he started, not looking at the janitor while addressing him. "Go to the break room. We need to get the employees out of the studio. Be careful on the way."

 

"What?" gasped Wally in fearful outrage. "What do you mean, 'we need to get them out'? What does this gotta do with that hellspawn bleeding out and its whore throwing a fit? Hell, if that's true, then good riddance."

 

You were too shattered to jump on Franks and claw his eyes out, so you collapsed inward and whined. Coming to your rescue, Thomas whirled on his partner, sneering, “Coward! Joey put me in charge of you since you obviously don't know what you're doing.” Thomas rose to his full height, dwarfing you and Wally in his shadow. “So, Franks: go find the employees. And escort them. Out. Of the studio. You're always complaining about being stuck here, aren't you? So go!” His last order was a booming bark that spurred Wally into terrified action.

 

Making a wide, shaky berth around the imposing repairman, Wally slunk away as if wading through molasses. Every step cost him. You would have felt sorry for the coward, forced to brave the studio and Joey’s wrath for disrupting his supposed “meeting”, but you couldn't dawdle. Negligence was damning.

 

“Where is he?” Thomas’ rumble regained your attention once Wally meandered off.

 

Blinking through foggy tears, you inhaled sharply and replied in your first proper sentence, “I can show you.”

 

Understanding your current distaste for speech, Connor stooped to collect two ink buckets. The liquid sloshed angrily against the sides of its container. Black splattered Thomas’ broad hands. Disgust and sorrow rippled through you as a memory of Bendy doing the same to your feet swam into focus. His antics had been so aggravating then. Now, you would gladly allow him to ruin every pair of shoes you owned if he lived to do so.

 

Unflinching at the weight of his carry-on, Thomas straightened and gave you a sharp nod. You took this as your cue to lead him along the trail of fingerprints and tears.

 

Again, there were no cultists to intercept you. They must have still been combing the upper levels. At least Bendy was safe from that threat.

 

Finding your way back to him was easier than seeking aid. The two of you approached your final destination, a familiar rickety door smeared with ink seared into your memory. You could identify it from a mile away. Your anxiety reared its ugly head and coiled in your gut when you rested a hand on the doorknob, and you wondered what was inside, but daydreaming wouldn't do any good.

 

You turned the knob and slipped inside without so much as glancing at Thomas. He paused behind you, hesitant at the darkness’ greeting.

 

You stopped in the shadows, allowing your eyes to adjust before catching the faintest outline of white upon which you fixated yourself. The ivory glow shifted when Bendy turned to face you, head lolling like a rag doll's and hooked horns scraping the wall. Soaked rags dotting the massive puddle under him told you he must have heeded your instructions and tried to staunch his bleeding but gave up. The wound wasn't gushing anymore, but half-clotted ink oozed out. Whether it was because the cut was healing or he had no more fluids to give, you didn't know. It was a struggle not to drop to your knees and clap a hand over your mouth and gag at the chemical smell.

 

“(Y/N),” Bendy rasped, wide optics blowing into moons, surprised you had returned. You would have thumped him for thinking so little of you if he was healed. Before you could tell him so, Bendy's exhausted, pain-dilated gaze caught the man hovering over your shoulder, and he managed a gurgling hiss and groaned, sliding further into his own mess, “Oh, what the fuck, (Y/N)?”

 

“Don't you dare start complaining now,” you snapped, happy to fall into your old routine of quips even if you knew he was donning his douchebag mask in Thomas Connor's presence. Your teeth gritted as you took a bucket from the patient, quiet repairman, swung it to your front, and threw it at Bendy's feet before collapsing.

 

The demon stared at the ink sloshing inside without seeing it, then blinked blearily at you. Up-close, his too-white face was sallow and sunken. You had once told him hollow cheeks made him look dead, but this… This was death. He looked like a living -- well, half-alive corpse.

 

You would have cupped the sides of his narrow face and traced the sharp outlines of his cheekbones if you didn't have company, and besides, Bendy wouldn't appreciate being fussed over while on his death-bed. Instead, you tugged the ink bucket closer and allowed your panic to seep through the cracks in your annoyance.

 

“Do I…” you started, then trailed off to place a hand on Bendy's abdomen as you did to Thomas, but far more gentle and loving.

 

Bendy hissed weakly and pulled his attention away from Thomas, whom he was glaring at in a silent challenge.

 

“Sorry,” you squeaked and snatched your blood-crusted fingers away, swallowing heavily. “Do I just… pour it… in?”

 

“No, (Y/N),” he breathed in your ear, and, despite the chill it sent down your spine and his weak tone, the sarcastic edge bit you. “You pour a pentagram around me and perform a ritual--"

 

“I get it,” you sniped back shakily and heaved the bucket into your arms to pour it over his injury.

 

The ink bubbled and hissed when it met the ink demon’s flesh before settling, a gelatinous mass filling the gap in his abdomen. Bendy shuffled underneath the steady stream of fluids, and he would've purred had Thomas not been there, carefully observing the administrations. By the time the first bucket went empty, a creeping, pale gray had returned to Bendy's cheeks, and the cartoon sat up without wincing.

 

“Here,” he said, reaching for the second pail in your hands, his usual cold, high tenor replacing his hoarse whines. “I got it now.”

 

Though his tone was reserved, his thin, ungloved fingers brushed yours and his eyes rounded as he watched you in silent gratitude. Again, Thomas’ presence was hindering the devil's already awkward communication.

 

Your thoughts reminded Bendy of the force towering over him. Angling his horns away from you, Bendy frowned at Connor and sneered, “Whaddya want?”

 

Thomas took this as an invitation to sit down with you, making a circular trio on the floor. Bendy spat at the sudden intrusion, but Thomas ignored him and studied the cartoon’s wound from afar. A thick yet delicate sheen of ink had covered the gaping hole, smoother and glossier than the rest of Bendy's skin, and a few ink droplets rolled down his side. If Bendy tensed up anymore then it would likely burst. You went to thread your fingers through his, no longer caring about the blood crusting them, but faltered when Connor spoke up.

 

“I knew,” he said quietly, contemplatively. “Knew about Joey basically being a sociopath, I mean.”

 

Bendy paused in the middle of curling his lip. Thomas continued, fixated upon his injury, “I knew, but I didn't think it was so… toxic. To you.”

 

Bendy didn't reply. Crossing his arms and leaning back, stretching the delicate skin on his abdomen, the ink demon irritably flicked his tail-tip in an indication for the repairman to explain.

 

Thomas brought his deeply serious gaze up to meet Bendy's annoyance. “I was one of the first employees to work here. I was here when the studio first opened, in fact, before Henry left and Joey lost his shit, along with Sammy, Wally, and Norman. I didn't stay for long after Henry left, though.” He paused, then drew his brows together before continuing, ”Joey wasn't always horrible. At least, not in the way he is now.” An odd expression indeed crossed Thomas' face as he watched Bendy and said, “The way used to be sorta reminds me of you. He was an erratic prick who didn't know how to interact with anyone aside from Henry, but he had a dream. Even if that dream became warped with greed later on. Which is why Henry left -- at least, partly why.

 

“But that's a different story,” Thomas added hastily to steer himself back to his initial point. “Still, his leaving surprised us all. Henry and Joey were…” His pointer and middle finger crossed for emphasis when he said “...like this. Joey had his own little grieving process after his best friend left. First, he got so depressed we thought the studio would shut down because he wasn't animating anything. He avoided everyone, let everything fall into disrepair, and refused to leave his office. Hell, I don't think he left the studio at all during that time. Then, it was like walking on eggshells around him. He'd scream at you if you so much as looked at him. He still is sorta like that, now that I think about it.

 

“Anyway, I'm getting off-topic again. Needless to say, he eventually invested himself into his work, and…” Thomas waved a hand at Bendy, who was rapt with attention for once in his life. "I think you know what followed. The day he succeeded in creating you -- and believe me, he had been trying to do so for months beforehand -- the only time I've seen Joey so happy was when he was around Henry." A sad smile played at Thomas' chapped lips. "He was overjoyed. Treated you and Boris like royalty, paraded you around the studio, introduced you to everyone even though you could hardly open your eyes, let alone understand what was going on... All us employees were pleased, too. We thought since Joey had something to take care of, to love other than some guy who eloped and abandoned him, that things would start looking up. Joey would realize what he had done wrong and improve and recover.

 

"Again. That wasn't the case." Shadow consumed Thomas' expression. "Sammy was the first. You didn't know him before all this, (Y/N), and Bendy, you were too young to remember, but god, he hated Joey!"

 

Connor's claim transformed your guilt into shock.

 

"Hated him with a burning passion, he did. Which was why everyone was so shocked when he suddenly started kissing the ground that man walked on, spewing some bullshit about salvation so often the Music Department kicked him out temporarily because they couldn't record with him blabbering. We -- the people who noticed, anyway -- thought he'd gone off the deep end. But then it happened to another employee. And another. Until nearly half the workers were Joey's mindless puppets. They got clever, too, those cultists did. They knocked off the public prayers soon enough. Could never read them afterward. Blank as a slate.

 

"I saw what was happening, but didn't know why, and I didn't really want to speak up about it. My co-workers were all either brainwashed or ignorant. So I kept my head low. Until Joey approached me. I remember exactly where, when, and how. I was trying to see if I could fix the lift when Joey, arrogant, cold, head held high, you--" he pointed at Bendy accusingly "--perched on one of his shoulders, blissfully ignorant. Drew set you down and sent you away before asking me to follow him to his office. There, instead of brainwashing me, he gave me a choice: either accept or be forced. And so he introduced me to The Illusion of Living.

 

"I knew then what that bastard was planning for you to get his 'research'. I knew, but I kid myself into thinking that he was just shooting for the moon again -- no hope of achieving his goals. And when Alice joined you soon after I told Joey I would think about his offer, I also knew I had to do something. But instead of doing the right thing and helping, I left." Thomas sounded bitterly ashamed of himself as he shook his head and continued, "I did exactly as cowards like Wally would do. And even though I knew, and even came back occasionally to do repairs for Joey -- he only let me live after showing off his plans because he thought I wasn't a threat -- it never really sunk in. What was happening. Until now. I've spent years running and hiding, but now... I think it's time something changed."

 

Thomas raised his brow to meet your attentive gaze. "Thank you for helping him when I could not." His eyes slid over to Bendy, and he added, "And I'm sorry for not doing so in the first place."

 

His ending was brief, abrupt in contrast to such a monologue. Either his explanation hadn’t yet set in, it stole all your words straight off your lips, or you simply didn’t have the means to express your sorrow. Your jaw hung as you tried forcing out an acknowledgment, but Bendy beat you to it.

 

“Liar,” he snarled, drawing his shoulders together so that he was twice his size. His hand, still cupping yours, tensed, and the pads of his fingers dug into your knuckles.

 

Your jaw snapped shut, and you whipped around to face the devil, incredulous, but he carried on. “If you wanted to help so much,” he spat, “then why is half of this your fault in the first place?”

 

“My fault?” Thomas was scandalized. “How could any of this be my--”

 

“Oh, I dunno, maybe gossiping with your Irish boyfriend about me after ya came and did that one repair. Maybe that rumor spread to the rest of the studio. Maybe it reached Joey’s ears and contributed to this shit-show. Maybe it made people hate (Y/N) just as much as they hate me. Which she doesn’t deserve.” Bendy bared his teeth and held up your interlaced fingers for Thomas to gawk at, as he hadn’t yet noticed them. “We weren’t even together by then, just so y’know.”

 

“What are you talking about--?”

 

“Don’t play ignorant!” Bendy’s voice rose to a screech sure to attract unwanted attention.

 

You stepped in before another incident like Sammy could happen and said coolly to the demon, “Quiet. You’re being loud again.” Bendy only then remembered your presence and turned toward you. You met his stare unflinchingly. After a brief, wordless exchange only couples could understand, Bendy slumped in defeat, snorting violently. You took the opportunity to address Thomas. “He’s right, even if he’s acting like a child. What did you tell Shawn that day?”

 

“Nothing. I didn’t know about this,” said Thomas, dismissing your affairs. “I did talk about you two, but all I said was that it was amazing how Bendy actually seemed to get along with someone for once. And even better, it was with a girl who could keep him on his toes.

 

“My only concern was either she was a part of that cult after all, and that's why she stuck around you when you were clearly being an ass to the point of harassment. But I didn't mention that flat-out to Shawn. I just… implied.”

 

Bendy snarled and lurched forward. “And that implication was what--”

 

You slapped an arm over his chest so hard he hissed, but he couldn't risk reopening his delicate wound, and besides, Thomas wouldn't support you if Bendy tore him to ribbons.

 

“You didn't say anything?” you asked him for confirmation.

 

An outraged “Of course I didn't!”

 

“Then that's that,” you said, satisfied, decompressing and pulling your arm away from the tense ink demon. “You said you wanted to help?”

 

Thomas nodded stiffly.

 

“Good. Then let me tell you what I was planning…” You explained your original plan to Connor as you had done to Bendy only a week ago, but the repairman was far more agreeable than the demon snarling at your side had been. Thomas gave no sign of reacting throughout your speech aside from blinking slowly to show he understood when you explained key points or certain endeavors. Then, you contrasted your original plan to what had really happened, which was a far cry from the initial idea.

 

“I didn’t know it would end up like this,” you confessed and glanced at Bendy. “I don’t care how any of this -- everything, not just right now -- started. This was my idea, so right now, it’s my fault.” The ink demon’s eyes narrowed, but you stated firmly, “You can have your own pity party later, or blame Joey, or whatever you decided. Let me feel sorry for once.” Turning back to Thomas, you added, “I have to fix this. Do you still want to help?” Even though I killed one of your former co-workers? Even though I slept with a cartoon? Even though I failed everyone?

 

Your thoughts were written on your face as Thomas studied you, yet he cared not for a single one of them. He knew how it felt to walk in shameful shackles everywhere, to be shunned -- although he had isolated himself by choice, unlike your disownment. But it wasn’t sympathy that hardened his features into stony determination when he said, “What do you want me to do.”

 

Aching relief swept over you at his unspoken agreement. Perhaps you really could complete your agenda tonight. Allowing you to bask in the afterglow of your trembling joy, Bendy hissed coldly -- he was none too happy about the new member in your party, as three was a crowd -- “Go to Joey’s office. Steal his book, tear it apart, I don’t care. Get rid’a it. That, and the Ink Machine’s blueprints. Those you can go ahead ‘n destroy.”

 

“I’ll take those, too. Murray might want them, he wrote them, after all--”

 

“I don’t care,” the cartoon devil snarled. Least of all he wanted to have a conversation with someone he believed to have sold him out to Shawn and thus, the rest of the studio. Thomas’ saving grace was your forgiveness. Otherwise, Bendy would have shredded him.

 

“Temperamental,” noted Thomas as he stood, brushing dust off his pants and distastefully taking in the fresh stains on them. “Just Joey’s office?”

 

You leaped up beside him, leaving Bendy on the floor, fuming in your absence. “You say that like it won’t be hard,” you replied. “Remember, there’ll be lots of employees crawling around looking for us. Well, me and Bendy.”

 

“Bendy and me,” the ink demon corrected sulkily from the floor.

 

Ignoring him apart from an eye-roll, you continued, “And since Joey knows exactly what I was gonna do, he’d be an idiot not to have some sort of guard by his office.”

 

“But we already know he’s an idiot,” came more commentary.

 

You were tempted to stomp on the spade-tipped tail twitching in the corner of your vision. “So be careful. And you’ll need these.” Metal clinked against metal as you held up Wally’s keys, which you had dug out of your pocket after standing.

 

Amusement glittered in Connor’s eyes, and he took the keychain, remarking, “He can’t seem to keep track of these, can he?”

 

“No,” you agreed in a choked whisper, remembering the poor janitor probably panicking somewhere in the labyrinth of a workshop.

 

You could have sworn Thomas was a mind reader, for he replied, equally soft, ”I'll see if I can find Wally afterward. I doubt he has enough balls to actually do as I asked of him. I don't know what Joey wants with all those employees, but it can't be anything good. Maybe I'll meet up with you two after I find him.”

 

You shrugged. Conversation over, Thomas retreated, his exhausted yet intelligent optics blinking in a farewell. He twirled Wally’s keys in his hand and strode out of the closet, shutting the door behind him to plunge the room into darkness. Numb, you slumped down beside the now silent Bendy, and your descent sent a few drops of his inky blood into the air before they plinked back down into the pool underneath. A fresh wave of its harsh scent made your insides roll and you had no time to recover before Bendy purred, bunched his fingers in your hair, and brought his lips to yours in the kiss he would've given you had you not left him, had Thomas not been present.

 

Your brows bunched together and you let out a soft keen while dissolving into the touch. Bendy's upper body straightened; he leaned toward your acceptance, both hands cupping your cheeks. With another rolling chirr, he pulled away, and in his absence, you clapped your hands over your mouth to swallow the emotional bile rising in your throat.

 

"I didn't I think I was that bad of a kisser," Bendy teased while tears swam in your vision.

 

Your response was to jerk away and vomit in the nearest corner. Bendy recoiled and cursed, but when your nauseating episode was over, he returned, cooing gently and pulling you away from the mess. Hot, sweaty chills wracked your body.

 

"Do I gotta go through my speech again?" he asked, half-serious. "And you call me stubborn. Haven't I told'ja this isn't 'cause of you?"

 

"You're literally bullheaded," you sniped hoarsely.

 

Bullheaded, sarcastic, intelligent, antisocial -- and alive.

 

"I know," he agreed. "'Least I'm not a gross human."

 

"You're the one who bled everywhere."

 

"I know that, too. And again..." trailing off to reposition you in his lap so that you faced him, Bendy brushed away a trail of tears snaking down your cheek and said, "Thank you."

 

"Even though I brought Thomas?" you whispered -- although you were afraid of his newfound communication skills dissipating when you mentioned the repairman, you had to address the elephant in the room.

 

"Even though ya brought Thomas," the devil conceded reluctantly. "I mean, everyone else annoys the hell outta me, 'specially him, but... if he was honest, then I guess his single brain cell could help."

 

"Right. 'Cause two brain cells are better than one."

 

"You sayin' I got only one brain cell?"

 

"No -- we both share one. Two halves make a whole."

 

A bright, genuine laugh Bendy reserved for only you rang out, and the ink demon looked down, threading your fingers together again. His expression went from amused to stoic as he brought one of your intertwined hands up. He studied the gore on it so intently it made you shuffle, but, soothing your discomfort, he overturned your hand so that your palm would be outstretched and bowed his head to press his lips upon the skin. He gauged your reaction through his lowered brow and was nothing short of pleased. Your entire being melted at the tender gesture. Letting out a rumbling croon, he pulled away to brush a kiss against your neck, then leaned back onto the wall.

 

He crossed his arms and reminded, “But we still gotta find Boris. Alice... I don't care if she rots here.”

 

“Allison?”

 

Bendy simultaneously snorted and sighed, agreeing, “Fine. But only ‘cause you like her.”

 

“I must have you wrapped around my finger if you agree not to kill Thomas and to find Allison.”

 

“No, you,” he retorted in a purr.

 

“When have I ever done something like that for you?” you asked despite the ink demon having already answered such a question: everything.

 

He realized this, too, and continued cooing rather than reiterate himself, although the vibrations were making his abdomen ache. “Then let’s go find them. We’re basically sittin’ ducks in here, plus, we sorta ruined this room.”

 

“Just a little bit,” you whispered, drawing away from his chest to pick at your crusted fingernails. Your legs were still firmly wrapped around his waist, however.

 

“Then let’s go. But’cha gotta get off me. I don’t think I can carry you right now.”

 

You feigned mild disappointment and swung yourself out of his lap. The cartoon laughed, but the sound soon faded as he looked at you imploringly.

 

“What?" you asked, recognizing his expression as he struggled to speak up.

 

“Help me with something?” he answered vaguely.

 

“I kinda got that you need help since you look like you might implode if you ask. What is it?”

 

Bendy didn’t reply. Instead, he coiled his tail at his side and stretched to bring the bucket once full of rags toward him. He reached inside of it, scraping the bottom until he withdrew what looked like a roll.

 

“Help me put this on?” he specified, holding out the object.

 

It was a roll. A roll of gauze. You sucked in a hissing breath through gritted teeth, and Bendy explained, "If the cut tears open again, this’ll probably help, and if you put it on tight enough it’ll keep me from twisting too much.”

 

Smart. But you wished he didn’t need it in the first place. “Alright. But you have to stand if you want me to wrap it properly.”

 

You rose to your feet, perhaps not graceful, but it was a damn sight prettier than the way Bendy struggled to stand. His legs trembled with the remnants of shock and pain, so you offered him a hand, which, despite Bendy being an arrogant idiot, he took gladly. He nearly dislocated your shoulder, yet you didn't dare move away until he steadied.

 

“Are you alright?” you checked hesitantly in case he wanted to sit again.

 

“Fine,” he breathed back, eyes rounding.

 

“Just let me know if you--”

 

"'M fine,” he hissed to compensate for his lack of strength and balance.

 

You glared at him for being rude but said nothing since you knew why he decided to act so nasty. “Fine. But if you topple over then I’ll make you sit.”

 

He didn’t deign a response. Sighing, you pulled his arms away from his chest, positioning them so that they were slightly outstretched at his sides, then went to work. A shudder rippled down your spine each time you slid a hand over his too-smooth skin and followed with the wrap. Then, making sure it was tight yet comfortable, you lowered your head and tore the fabric with your teeth to tuck the end in between the folds and then discarded the rest of the roll. Bendy’s tail stiffened at your incisors being so close to his abdomen, and you severely hoped he didn’t decide to leap on you and force you against the wall when you straightened. Luckily, he had some form of self-control and met your gaze before checking his midsection.

 

“You could say you fought a mountain lion,” you offered when he remained silent.

 

His optics darted back up to your face, flickering like obsidian flames, and he prodded, “How big of a mountain lion?”

 

“I dunno, I’m not a wildcat expert. I also don’t know a bunch of useless facts, like someone does.”

 

“Mountain lions can weigh up to two hundred-twenty pounds.”

 

“Thanks for proving my point.”

 

The familiar dryness in your tone made him laugh (three times in one night -- gold star!), but his bandages constricted his heaving. Besides, this was no time for the pretty little nothings the two of you would whisper back and forth during your weekend shifts. Bendy let his discomfort quiet his snorts so that he could remind you, "We should probably get going."

 

The smile he loved so much no longer graced your face, and he was half-tempted to replace it had you not swallowed and agreed, "Right."

 

His thumbs went up to soothingly trace your cheekbones. "You wanna go now, or...?"

 

"You're the one who reminded me," you pointed out. "I don't think waiting will do us any good."

 

"Right. Any direction you can point us in?"

 

"No," you admitted in a sigh. "I didn't see any sign of them. But at least there weren't many employees down here yet."

 

"Damn. So the fates or whatever is only sorta in our favor. Well, hopefully we won't have to go too far down into the studio."

 

"Why? I mean, I've never been too far down, so I don't know, but is there something wrong with going deeper?"

 

For once, Bendy held his tongue, refusing to make an innuendo in such circumstances. "Not inherently," he answered your adorable curiosity. "I'm just especially hated down there. Like, more'n usual. Down there's Grant's office, and Lacie and Bertrum and Jack -- Jack's s'posed to be a part of the Music Department, though, but for whatever reason, he likes trolling around the sewers. And did Bertrum leave, or am I just...? Anyway, you don't know any of them, and I don't feel like introducin' ya. Sorry. Basically, let's hope they're not too far down."

 

"Oh," was your only response.

 

"Yeah..." Bendy agreed offhandedly, prepared to slink out of the closet save one small detail.

 

The ink demon glanced over your shoulder to eye the blade glinting cruelly at him.

 

Immediately sensing at what he stared, you blurted, "I don't want it."

 

Obsidian optics dragged themselves away from the malignant object to refocus on you. "We should probably take it."

 

"No. I don't care. I don't want it." Blood and ink stained the blade a deep crimson. The image was firmly ingrained in your memories, yet you refused to look since the sight would make you heave again.

 

Perhaps you went green at the mere thought, for Bendy purred reassuringly and dipped his head to nuzzle your jawline, sliding your hands through his. "How 'bout I keep it? You don't gotta touch it or be near it, but it's there, just in case. Sound good, doll?"

 

"Fine," you spat, but tilted your head back, revealing your neck to the ink demon.

 

He chirred delightedly and grazed his fangs over your jugular before sidestepping you to snatch up the very knife that wounded him. Bendy tucked the sword-like dagger into the folds of his wrap like a sheath.

 

"You wanna get going, babe?" he checked, sidling up against the doorframe in an invitation to exit.

 

"You're the one who's been bothering me about leaving," you pointed out but approached him, nose in the air to avoid the sight of his new weapon.

 

His spade-tipped tail slid up your thigh as you strode out of the closet. An unspoken agreement passed between you two after crossing the threshold, exposed in the halls. Bendy slunk behind you, watching your back; you lead, peeking around corners before choosing a direction. The ink demon occasionally rested his chin on your shoulder to whisper about the studio's layout or murmur cooing encouragements in your ear. You would respond to these either by kissing his cheek or catching his pinky with yours, both of which he loved.

 

No trouble approached until you swerved around a sharp corner and nearly barreled into one of Joey's workers. Your steps were quiet enough that the cultist didn't hear you, and their back faced you as they studied an office door, debating their entrance. They were searching for you.

 

Bendy reacted first, hands shooting up to your waist, tugging you back into the hall from where you came. Leaning into his chest and counting his heartbeats, the usually unfazed devil had a racketing pulse. You remained undetected, but that was ridiculously close.

 

"Shit," he breathed, which was a decent summary of your situation.

 

Not trusting yourself to speak, you brought his wrist up to your lips and mouthed against it, What are we going to do?

 

"I dunno," he whispered back, tail twitching. "We weren't really specific 'bout that part. 'Incapacitate them', yeah, but where's the fucking dustpan when you need it--"

 

"It doesn't have to be with a dustpan," you said in the quietest murmur you could muster. "Dumbass. If they come down here, then they'll find us, and besides, that hallway looks like our best bet right now. There's no way around it."

 

A beat. "Right. Y'know, if that's the case..."

 

Realizing what Bendy was leading up to, you grabbed both of his wrists so that he couldn't unsheathe his blade and cried softly, "No! Absolutely not. We are not doing that. Not... Not again. I can't, and... I don't want you to, either."

 

"Tryna control my actions, doll?"

 

"Ben'..." you sighed and rested your forehead on his collarbone. "No. You know what I mean."

 

"I do," he cooed, "just joking. But'cha don't like jokes 'cause you got a stick up your ass, huh?"

 

"Bendy."

 

"Sorry."

 

"No, you're not. We'll just run past when they go in and check that office."

 

"And if they don't wanna and come 'round here?"

 

"We'll cross that bridge when we get there."

 

"Improvising? Oh, what happened to my control freak? I've really been a bad influence on ya."

 

"Shut the fuck up."

 

You earned your fourth laugh of the night. The two of you snuck past the nook when the employee decided there must be something incriminating inside, setting off again, though far more cautious. Where there was one cultist, there would be another, and your luck ran out when you revived Bendy.

 

Within an alarmingly short period, you saw more employees than you could count on your fingers. None came close to discovering you since, unlike your first encounter, you waited for them to move along and visually swept the parameter twice before preceding, but that didn't make their presence any less nerve-wracking. You couldn't have another Sammy.

 

Bendy's hand frequently hovered near the handle of his weapon to your dismay, although other times, when you were alone together, he brought his thin fingers to your face or brushed his hand against yours in the ghost of being held. You loved it when he wore no gloves. Awkward calluses resulting from using a pencil too often dotted his fingertips and scraped your skin with every touch. Later, when you recovered from this endeavor at home, you would trace these contours, and then buy the ink demon new gloves when he complained about losing his old pair.

 

The fantasy allowed you to retain your sanity and patience as you closed the umpteenth office door. Behind it? Surprise surprise, a whole lot of nothing. A growling sigh escaped your nose, beckoning Bendy to your side. He materialized from the end of the hall where he had been checking a different set of doors.

 

"Ooh, lemme guess, toots,” he sneered, always the impatient whiner. "Found Joey's gay pornstash in there?”

 

“I don't need your shit,” you retorted, determinedly not looking at him.

 

Out of the corner of your vision, his annoyance abated, and a purr sounded when he slid between you and the door and unraveled your crossed arms. “I know. Whaddya wanna do? This isn't really the most efficient option -- checking every single room? Have you seen this studio?”

 

“We aren't even near Heavenly Toys,” you said despairingly and melted into him. You didn't want to admit defeat, but… Heat rose behind your eyelids. This was another mistake, another fuckup like the one that landed you here in the first place, making that goddamn promise to let a demon into your house.

 

But then Bendy gave a manic smile. “Heavenly Toys,” he gushed. “Alice.”

 

“What does Heavenly Toys have to do with Alice?” you demanded, his thought process bewildering you.

 

"The dressing room.”

 

“What dressing room?”

 

“Don’t you remember?” the ink demon urged, towering over you, excitedly aquiver. “I took you there after Susie left! It’s our best bet. C’mon, let’s go!”

 

Bendy then rocketed down the hall before you could snap at him for condescending you. Worse yet, he had no regard for safety, bouncing off the walls. You stormed after him and grew close enough reach out and tug his tail, and, stretching as far as possible--

 

Bendy screeched at you nearly yanking off his tail. Had he not turned with such a dumbfounded and offended expression, hand clapped over his mouth, you would have scolded him for being so loud. Instead, you tilted your head back and let out a cackling laugh.

 

"It is not funny!" he whispered furiously, hoping no one had heard the sudden disturbance. "You're the one worried 'bout bein' caught, dammit--"

 

"You're the one who screamed," you retorted in a wheeze and watched him with laughter-crinkled eyes.

 

Your rare humorous expression put a damper on his outrage. "You pulled my tail!"

 

"Poor baby," you simpered between giggles. "Who would do such a thing?"

 

Bendy couldn't fake his fury. An awkward, broken smile stretched over his face, and he answered, "You. Pullin' out my tail after I literally got stabbed."

 

That certainly sobered you. Snapping to attention, intense seriousness replaced your laughter -- Bendy did love both faces, but there was something special seeing an anxious trainwreck like you lighten up for once even if it was at his expense, so he lamented the change.

 

"Sorry," you breathed silently. "I, uh, guess forgot about that. Kinda ignorant, seeing as..." you sidled up to the ink demon's front and fiddled with his bandages, not looking him in the eye. "Yeah. Anyway, don't run off again, and I won't have to tug on you." Your stare then flicked up to meet his level gaze. "I can't lose you."

 

"Yeah, I've been told I'm pretty damn special."

 

“Obviously. So stay with me?”

 

“Alright,” said Bendy mildly. His teeth flashed as he asked, “Wanna hold hands?”

 

Cheek. “Definitely,” you answered drily but took his hand anyway. “Let's go.”

 

The star posted upon Alice's dressing room door soon came into sight thanks to Bendy's knowledge of the studio's ins and outs. You complimented his photographic memory although he didn't need to be puffed up on his own sense of importance, to which he responded, "Photographic is a misnomer -- I've got an eidetic memory."

 

Perhaps you should have kept quiet after all. Relief stole your vocabulary when you approached the practical shrine to Alice anyway. Bendy refrained from snarling at a nearby depiction of her and frowned.

 

"Wanna do the honors?" he sniffed, tail curling toward the doorknob.

 

"Not really. But if you're gonna be a scaredy-cat..." False. The only scaredy-cat here was you. You dreaded what you may find inside, yet entered the threshold.

 

Similar to the closet you had hunkered in earlier, silent darkness greeted you, and you took a hesitant step forward...

 

A violently trembling, short figure hurled itself at your intrusion, causing you to stumble back into Bendy's chest. The ink demon let out an involuntary warning yowl. You took after his example and squealed when your perpetrator dug their fingertips into your shoulders and stuck their face in yours.

 

Then they released you.

 

"(Y/N)?" gasped Allison Pendle.

 

The outline of large, furred ears pricked at the sound of your name. "(Y/N)?" echoed Boris from a corner.

 

You didn't confirm your identity on account of Allison scaring you out of your wits. Realizing you weren't whoever she thought you to be, the voice actress clapped her hands together and brought them to her mouth in uncontrollable happiness.

 

"And Bendy," she noted. "God, I thought you were-- Oh, but you wouldn't know what happened, (Y/N), I'm so sorry I couldn't tell you sooner, I don't even know where to begin-- I've found out so much, more than you asked, honestly, so much more-- Joey, he... I really don't know where to start. He thinks that Bendy is..."

 

She trailed off when she saw your haggard appearance, soaked in blood and ink alike. You couldn't meet her gaze. In a guilty whisper, you responded, "I already know. Most of it, at least."

 

"Yeah, because he told her," Boris growled.

 

Bendy spat at the wolf to silence him.

 

"About what happens here at night?" inquired Allison, her hands reaching for yours.

 

You took them gratefully and confirmed, "Yeah. Even before I asked you for... for that favor. I should have told you, but…”

 

A broken smile. “Yeah, and you should've told me about you and Bendy, too, but I understand why you didn't. Especially now that I've seen everything for myself. It's fine. I understand.”

 

“Thank you.” You closed your eyes. “So much.”

 

Poor Allison, you had mourned earlier that week, your oblivious friend ambling around the studio.

 

“Of course,” said Allison. “You're my friend. Besides, you don't have to tell me everything.”

 

“I know, but I should've at least warned you or told you why I specifically wanted you to--”

 

An impatient hiss cut off your apology. Exasperated, you released Pendle's hands and asked Bendy, “What?”

 

The snarls paused when Bendy blinked at you but soon returned, and he demanded, “Where's Alice?”

 

Boris whined. Allison hesitated, warily regarding the bane of Joey Drew Studios, but drew strength from your reassuring expression and answered, “Alice led us here, along with Susie -- she came back, by the way, gosh, I really have a lot to tell you. Anyway, Joey told Alice to bring us here, and she waited with us before Joey found us and took her and Susie somewhere."

 

“Susie came back?” Bendy cocked his head with predatory intent, interest piqued.

 

“Y-Yeah,” she confirmed and quivered under his intense stare.

 

Forcing yourself in front of the ink demon, who slunk forward like the mountain lion you had discussed earlier, you asked, “How?”

 

“I-I don’t know. He let her stay in exchange for something, and Alice vouched for her--”

 

“The papers,” grunted Boris. The dejected wolf crossed his arms over his knees, resting his muzzle between them. “Alice gave him (Y/N)’s papers in exchange for Susie.” They spoke of the former voice actress like a good to be bought off the black market.

 

“And you didn’t think that, I dunno, maybe you should do something?!” screeched Bendy at his confession.

 

“You didn’t think that this wasn’t a mistake?!” Boris retorted. “This isn’t my fault, it’s yours for being selfish and stupid enough to think you can just leave the studio whenever you want with a human!"

 

A low, rumbling growl bubbled up in the back of Bendy’s throat rather than a response. Knowing these two were prone to fighting (they nearly tore each other to ribbons when you presented your plan --  imagine what they would do in light of your failure), you stiffened and looked over your shoulder to give Bendy a threatening glare. Besides, if he exerted himself too much he could tear open his wound. Catching your seething stare, Bendy snorted, yet his shoulders drooped and he crossed his arms. He struggled not to launch himself at Boris and wipe the self-satisfied smirk off his stupid furred face, but he stifled his pride and hissed under his breath while you addressed Allison.

 

“Do you know where Joey took them?”

 

The display had entranced Pendle, so she took a few moments before answering, “Not exactly, but I’m almost sure. I think they went to the Ink Machine. Joey… It’s hard to explain. Susie will be one of his first human experiments. There were three before her -- I read about it in his journal -- but they were imperfect.”

 

“What’s he doing with them? What do you mean ‘imperfect’?”

 

A sad, mirthless smile morphed the girl’s soft features into something ugly. “Immortality. Give the Ink Machine a cartoon base and a human offering, it’ll make something greater than the two combined.”

 

You blanched. Recalling Joey’s speech, then... That’s what he intended to do with you. Or he wanted to kill you under the guise of a sacrifice. “He’s done this before?”

 

“Yes. Like I said, three others before Susie. They’re somewhere down here with us, I think. They were test runs, so to speak, so they came out… well, not right. The Ink Machine didn’t give them a cartoon form. It’s hard to explain. He plans on doing more tonight, which is why he made all the employees stay for a mandatory after-hours meeting.”

 

Something crawled up your spine, and your scalp prickled. “Right. I heard Wally say something about the meeting.”

 

“When did’ja talk to Wally?” came Bendy’s disdainful tone.

 

“When I went to get Thomas,” you quipped shortly, then continued, “Speaking of Wally and Thomas, they’re helping me. Wally went to evacuate the employees, and Thomas is raiding Joey’s office.”

 

Allison blinked, and her brow furrowed. “Raiding his office? (Y/N), what are you doing? Weren’t you with the other employees?”

 

You gave Bendy a sidelong glance before answering, and he shrugged, stepping back to say that this was your fight. Your expression fell from beseeching to annoyed, and you internally remarked, Thanks for your help, asshole.

 

His obsidian optics flickered in silent, purring laughter.

 

Sighing and meeting Allison’s imploring stare, you explained, “No, I wasn’t. I went home and came back later because…” You paused, wondering where to begin, then decided to be brief and concise. “I had a plan to get Boris, Alice, and asshat out.” A hiss sounded at your endearing nickname for Bendy, but you continued while stifling a smile, “But Alice gave us away. I wrote those papers she gave to Joey. Maybe it wasn’t the brightest idea leaving them here, but what’s done is done. I didn’t know that Joey knew, so I came here anyway, and it hasn’t been our best moment.” You eyed Bendy’s bandages pointedly. “Obviously. But we’re still trying. Thomas agreed to help, and he kinda forced Wally to help, too, so… We’re getting there. Now that we found you, we can go find Thomas and get out. I mean, if you even want to still help me.” Your voice broke toward the end. You had asked so much of your friend already, and where had it gotten her? Under Joey’s foot, or, more accurately, at his side.

 

Allison's large, bovine eyes softened and crinkled at the edges. "You should be free to love who you want, no matter what anyone else says. Joey may have denied you that right, but I promise, I will help you fight for it."

 

You didn't deserve a friend like Allison Pendle. On the other hand, Bendy deserved more than a pseudo-brother like Boris, who lurched to his feet and snarled, "Who said anyone's fighting for anything?"

 

Bendy ceased fake-gagging at your soppy display with Allison and said, "(Y/N) did. And now I am. Is that a problem?"

 

His voice was soft, level, calm. Too calm. Knowing Boris would provoke him one way or another, you swiveled Allison around to stand next to you, a fair distance away from the cartoons circling each other. If you couldn't keep them from squabbling, then you could at least protect your friend.

 

"Maybe," said Boris, his coal-black eyes rolling in a sarcasm you didn't think the wolf was capable of. "You stupid, reckless child. You expect us to clean up your mess? I told you. I told you this was a mistake. I'll admit, (Y/N)'s idea sounded nice at first, but that's all it really was in the end, right? An idea."

 

You bit your trembling lower lip to avoid flinching. Bendy, preoccupied, didn't notice your discomfort and said incredulously, "Child? Don't you know how to fucking add? We're the same age, dumbfuck."

 

"I'm seven minutes older," Boris reminded, smug until his upper lip curled, revealing his blunt, lupine canines. "And I at least act like my age."

 

"No, Boris, you act like you're twice Joey's age with an even bigger stick up your ass. Or dick. Since you're both fags."

 

"That's exactly what I'm talking about!" The wolf's fur stood on end, doubling his size. "This is all your fault! You put us at risk for your own gain and really expect us to throw ourselves in harm's way?!"

 

"It's your fault ya let Alice tell Joey in the first place!"

 

"I didn't have a choice!"

 

"There's always a choice! You chose wrong, fuckface!"

 

"Choices are subjective--"

 

"Mreow-row-row-reow!"

 

Boris released a volley of barks in turn until his howls and Bendy's screeching filled the small space.

 

Clapping your hands over your ears and profusely apologizing to a trembling Allison, you shouted, "Enough! That's enough, be quiet!"

 

Bendy's yowls became roars. Boris paid you no mind. Frustrated tears pricked your eyes, and you abandoned your post next to Allison, slamming your palms into Bendy's chest to force him away from the wolf and reaching an arm back to keep Boris out of his face. How silly you must look, outstretched between two screaming cartoons, covered in blood and dust and ink.

 

Allison followed your lead and grappled with Boris' sleek, furred shoulders, her small hands scrabbling for traction. The shouts rang in your ears, and it was no longer restricted to the two males; Allison cried out and you begged, pleaded--

 

"Teamwork makes the dream work," a familiar dreamy, disembodied voice said, cutting through the clamor.

 

You looked up between your tears and the screams. No one else heard the voice.

 

Where you expected Alice Angel stood a coagulated mess oozing in the doorway. Her form was undefined, one shape molding into the next so that you couldn't tell where she began or ended. You searched what should have been her face for her sad, milky optics and found a single cat-eyed slit instead. It burned an angry amber.

 

She spoke again. Watching her, you heard the gurgle in her faraway tone as ink clogged her esophagus and dribbled down her front. "That's what Joey says, anyway. He also told me to 'fuck off'. I'm allowed to say that now, aren't I, (Y/N)?"

 

The two ink creatures and your friend continued screaming in an answer. "Alice" tilted her head, and a gooey mess attached to it, falling over her sloping shoulders and down her back shifted. Her hair. Her beautiful, glossy hair was an ink-drenched mop. Gorgeous, disastrous, stupid betraying Alice.

 

"But you still aren't allowed to be here," she continued, and the goo pulled back to reveal crooked, jumbled teeth. "You really shouldn't be here at all, (Y/N)." Her voice shifted, no longer whimsical or breathy when she snarled, "I shouldn't be here! I should've never come back! This was a mistake! I didn't want this!" The slug of an angel threw up her webbed fingers. "Look at me!"

 

And look at "Alice", your companions did. Their last screams caught in their throat at the sight of the monster advancing upon them, slavering wildly as she addressed you. The three formed a loose semi-circle against the threat. Teamwork indeed, "Alice".

 

"Why'd anyone wanna look at a hot mess like you?" sneered Bendy. "Fuck, what are you, anyway?"

 

"Alice!" screamed whatever remained of the cartoon angel. "I'm Alice Angel!"

 

"No," whispered Boris, whereas Bendy scoffed.

 

Though despite his portrayal of disbelief, the slug's assertion deeply disturbed Bendy. Whatever that thing was, it wasn't Alice. Not anymore. Besides, if her claim was true, then where was...?

 

"Susie," you breathed. Approving warmth filled the pit of Bendy's stomach at your realization, so well-timed. Even when staring down a pussing monster, he loved your intelligence and the way you stole the thoughts from his head. "You're Susie."

 

"Joey did it," Allison added and marveled at the girl whose job she took -- what she had become.

 

"No!" shrieked "Alice", fury and terror and sadness gleaming in her single visible eye. "I'm not her, not her, not her, I loved her, all I did was love her, and this is where it got me." She brought her hands down to mourn over them, keening, "I'm so sorry, I didn't expect this to happen to me! So don't call me Susie! She's done! I'm over her! I just wanted to be loved back! I just wanted what you had! You have a job -- two jobs, one you don’t even get paid for, a mate, friends!”

 

Your partners shuffled closer when “Alice” took a menacing step forward, though no one saw the angel’s assault coming. She bunched her weeping body together, inky muscles taut, then sprung. She hit you like a goopy brick wall. Stars exploded in your eyes when the back of your head cracked on the floor. You tried lifting your upper body to scramble away, but “Alice” grabbed your shoulders and pinned you underneath her. Her thick, soggy fingers ended in talons that punctured your skin, and she dragged them down, making a horrible  _ rrrip _ -ing noise while tearing apart your jacket. Your flesh burned; hot, metallic blood poured from your shoulders and choked you on its coppery tang. You thrashed underneath the slug-like angel who screamed profanities and curses.

 

“You have everything I deserve!” she howled, needle-like fangs snapping for your face, your neck, any bit of sweet flesh in which she could sink them. “I’ll make you pay for everything blessing the gods gave you -- and every blessing they stole from me!”

 

Your throat was raw. Were you screaming? Allison was, at least, repeating “Give me your sword give me your sword give me the damn sword Bendy” while the ink demon screeched and grappled at “Alice’s” back. The angel ceased punishing you and bucked to toss the demon off, then screamed victoriously when he flew and crumpled to the floor, winded. Writhing underneath “Alice”, you scrabbled at her throat and jerked your knee upwards into her gut. She went sprawling but dug her claws firmly into your front so that you rolled with her.

 

Her breath smelled like decay, hot and inky. You gagged while throwing punches, and your shoulders burned from overexertion and injury. Fabric flew. Your vision doubled and blurred. “Get up get up get the hell up give me that sword--” The sleek, metallic sound of a blade being drawn followed Allison’s pleads. Free of the voice actress screeching over him (who now attempted to heave the blade upright), Bendy jumped to all fours and flung himself at “Alice”, sending them both tumbling. You sucked in a breath, though death lingered in the air, and you tripped over yourself while scrambling for Boris, who had been cowering in the corner. You didn’t have the energy to call him a pussy.

 

“Don’t touch me!” shrieked the mess of an angel, returning your attention to the duo grappling across the room, where Bendy looked like he would rather be anywhere but tearing apart his sister’s remains.

 

Jet-black rivulets streamed down his hollow cheeks, and you couldn’t tell whether it was blood or tears. “Alice” was at his mercy underneath him, but the angel thrashed and sobbed so hard he flinched and she exploded, battering the demon away, inky chunks flying off her oozing body. She reared back like a snake preparing to strike, ready to slam herself into Bendy and rip into him with her teeth and talons, but Bendy recognized her tactic. They had played together when they were children, after all, and whoever she was now, there remained an inkling of the real Alice Angel underneath Susie’s hot, bubbling hatred.

 

Bendy snapped upward and clamped his fangs into her neck. “Alice’s” last screech died in her throat, ending in a small, surprised squeal. She went limp. The ink demon relaxed his hold, prepared to pull away, but the angel jerked and twisted, bleating in panic and clawing weakly at his face. Stifling his gags, Bendy snapped his jaw shut. A sickening squelch followed. Fluid gushed from the angel’s pierced jugular and Bendy’s innocently widened eyes, her blood staining his teeth and his tears pouring down her face. Shudders wracked “Alice”. She brought a feeble hand up to shove the cartoon devil, but it fell, dragging limply on the floor as the river streaming from her neck slowed to a dribble. Her gooey muscles jumped one last time, then fell still.

 

A sucking noise like a plunger being pulled from a drain sounded when Bendy released her and stood, gasping and coughing on the foul ink. A dull thump and the slug crumpled to the floor. Allison, learning to manage her new blade, took up the space he had abandoned to make sure the angel didn’t rise. Bendy made his way to the door without looking at you, though you were relieved to see his bandages were intact, if not loose. Your main concern was the numbness in his eyes where mischief usually glittered and the thick liquid he had yet to wipe off his mouth.

 

“You killed her,” breathed Boris.

 

Bendy flinched. He didn't deny nor confirm this observation. “We’re leaving to find Thomas. Let’s go.”

 

“Thomas?” Allison interrupted, although the ink demon’s unstable demeanor terrified her. “I-I was actually hoping we could we could find the other, um, experiments. I know where they are so it won’t take long, but… they don’t deserve to rot here.”

 

“Then you and Boris go find them,” said Bendy in a frighteningly familiar, demanding, unfeeling tone, though you couldn’t put your finger on who or what he reminded you of. “(Y/N) and I’ll get Thomas.” He met your stares, gaze sweeping the room. His eyes were ice, two gleaming black, deadened glaciers sending a chill to your fingertips. You then knew who he reminded you of. It was easy to imagine that his eyes were pale and narrow, belonging to a lonely animator rather than cartoony pie-shapes. “So go.”

 

Allison exited the closet at his order, dragging a shocked Boris along. Bendy waited until they rounded a corner out of sight before leaving. You followed, glancing at the room before closing the door, saying a silent farewell to your former co-worker bathed in a sepia death.

 

Bendy said not a word the entire journey. As suspected, the workers crawling through the halls multiplied when you closed in on Joey’s office. Several times you had to hide in the shadows, snug against Bendy’s chest so that he would camouflage you. The demon even allowed you to pack him into Miracle Stations despite his recent ordeal since being discovered was a real danger. A few hallways down from your destination, you entered one of these stations when a horde of cultists approached, patrolling the area. Bendy slumped against the wall. You peered through the slit in the door. The group moved along, but they may return, so you took a step back into Bendy. He hissed when you trod on his limp tail.

 

“Sorry,” you peeped, shuffling away from the ink demon. “Are… are you okay?”

 

“Fine,” he said and tucked his tail between his legs after scanning it for any damage.

 

You gave Bendy an odd look indeed. He shuffled under your intense gaze, and you repeated, “Are you okay?”

 

More than his tail was at risk. Releasing a guttural sigh, Bendy slid down to the floor and heaved, head between his knees, “She was my sister. However pissed I was, I... I didn't actually wanna kill her. She was my only sister."

 

Was. And he didn’t say “like a sister”. She was his sister, but no longer. Your heart ached as you squeezed in beside him. “And Sammy was my co-worker,” you offered, uncrossing his arms and taking his thin hand, his fingers listless as they slid through yours. “He might’ve been a good person at first, but not anymore. Alice may have been your sister, but that relationship didn’t mean much to her if she disregarded your needs and sold you out to Joey. Not saying that they deserved to be killed, but... I would rather be dead than Joey’s pet or experiment. Besides, we’re even now.”

 

“Was it ever about getting even?” Bendy asked, tilting his head toward you. Whether his eyes were gleaming with echoes of amusement or suppressed tears, you didn’t know.

 

“No,” you answered good-naturedly to compensate for his gloom, "but I’m just saying. Whatever you had with Alice, it wasn’t healthy. You deserve more. More than her and Boris. And whatever came out of the Ink Machine to make that, it was more Susie than Alice. I would have died if you didn't save new from her, just like you would have died if I didn't finish off Sammy."

 

"This is all my fault."

 

"And mine."

 

"No," said the ink demon through his misery. "Don't let what Boris said get to you. Or what you told Thomas."

 

"Let's just blame Joey like you were saying, alright?”

 

“Fine,” he agreed, and although his voice was mellow, he wasn't in danger of breaking down. Bendy loosened his taut muscles and leaned over, pulling his hand away from yours to hesitantly reach for your shoulders. His sudden attention reminded you of the aching sting sizzling along your scratches.

 

“She got you, right?” the ink demon asked, picking at the loose strings on your tattered jacket, and you shied away since he was likely to throw a fit over the damage, but Bendy wasn't having it and coiled himself around you so that you couldn't retreat when he peeled the clothing off you. The rush of cool air soothed your cuts, and goose pimples spread over your flesh.

 

Silent, Bendy picked a loose flake of blood off and examined it. “She did get you.”

 

“And?”

 

“Humans’re so fragile,” he said disdainfully.

 

You rolled your eyes. If the ink demon was making quips about your species, he must be feeling better, and you couldn't help your warm affection toward him.

 

Cooing and gathering you into his arms, he added, “And humans can't regenerate efficiently, so I can't just dump ya here while I go out lookin’ for whatever nasty carbon-based crud you're made outta. That also means we're not completely even.”

 

“I'm fine, I'm not dying like you were, and I thought it wasn't about getting even?”

 

“Maybe it is. I owe ya later, but I just wanna get out right now.”

 

“I know,” you said, shutting your eyes. “So do I.”

 

Although you should have insisted you leave and continue your mission, you leaned into the purring cartoon, his breath chilling your shoulders as you listened to Joey Drew screaming somewhere in the distance. Your conscious drifted. Bendy, staying true to his odd, feral behavior, lapped at your shoulders in between croons, cleaning the grime and half-clotted blood. If you were alert, you would have shoved him away in disgust, but his frigid breath felt so good…

 

You batted at him halfheartedly, yawning, “No, that's gross, Ben’, give me my jacket and c'mon.”

 

He dragged the forked tip of his tongue across your nape.

 

You shuddered but pulled away and stood. Bendy leaped to his feet aside you, trying to back you up to the wall, but you snapped his bandage, slid on your coat, and nudged the door open, nearly running over Thomas Connor in the process. The repairman huffed when you collided, and you stepped on Bendy's tail again leaping a pace back. Thomas clutched a book and a thick wad of papers close to his chest.

 

He blinked, focusing on you. “(Y/N),” he said in pleasant surprise. “I was just about to go looking for you. I got the book,” he waved The Illusion of Living in one hand, “and the papers.” Said papers rustled in his tight grip. ”Joey was over there, but he was yelling at his workers for something or other. He's frustrated, I bet.” A wry twist to his mouth. “Can't seem to find you. Just wait until he finds out what I did with his stuff. What do you want me to do with it, anyway?”

 

“Um,” you started intelligently. Bendy snorted. Glaring at him, you said to Thomas, “Just keep it for now. We found Allison and Boris--”

 

“Allison? What about Alice?”

 

“Gone,” cut in Bendy.

 

Thomas didn't press for answers. “Alright. Go on.”

 

“We found Allison and Boris. Right now, they're grabbing a few people Joey used to experiment since they don't deserve to rot here, either. We're going to meet up with them, go to the Ink Machine, and then get the hell out.”

 

“Wally would be proud.”

 

“Yeah… if he's still around here, we'll get him, too. We can check the employee break room. For now, let's go find the other two, and whatever they picked up. We'll look for them by the elevator.”

 

“Fine,” agreed Thomas. “As long as I don't have to go up the elevator…”

 

You were unable to reassure him before Bendy took your hand and swept you ahead of the repairman, leading the way.

 

The two were mulling about the lift, Boris pacing and Allison examining the knife in her hands. She was unsure if she liked it. On one hand, she could defend herself, on the other…

 

The girl glanced up at your approach. A smile set her face aglow until something caught her gaze and she turned to holler, “Quit playing with those levers you'll make the entire elevator collapse!”

 

Indeed, the wiring shuddered, the elevator bobbing precariously behind the bars enclosing it. There was a gurgling grumble, and a tall, skeletal ink figure stepped away from the lift.

 

“I wasn’t doing anything,” he snapped, his tone angry, gut-churning, the venomous hiss reminiscent of alleyways and darkness…

 

You should have expected it. Joey had limited access to people he could experiment on, and the duo did disappear at a convenient time. Nonetheless, a mixture of pity and disgust churned in your gut as you beheld what had become of the douchebag Bendy dared you to date a lifetime ago.

 

At his side was a lesser creature, merely a dripping torso sprouting from a thick, black puddle. Your other neighbor, you assumed. She looked worse for wear, her breaths wet rattles in her fluid-filled lungs.

 

You weren’t sorry.

 

The former college boy caught your gaze. Your breath caught in your throat when the malignant, pupil-less amber optics fixated upon you, ink pouring down his face and chin.

 

“You look like an octopus,” said Bendy, knowing exactly whom he spoke to.

 

The male’s citrine eyes nearly bulged out of his head. “You  _ bastard _ ,” he spluttered at the demon -- this was the first time he ever saw the real Bendy. He turned to you, fists clenching, “You  _ lied  _ to me! You said there wasn’t anyone else but you were fucking--”

 

“I didn’t lie,” you said stiffly, aware of your audience (Allison and Boris were unabashedly soaking in the exchange). “It wasn’t until after I told you.”

 

“Liar,” he snarled and threw his arms up as if he meant to fling himself at you.

 

Bendy hissed and towered between you and the douchebag.

 

“Dickless,” the male greeted him.

 

“Bigger than yours.”

 

“ _ Faggot _ .”

 

“How can I be gay if I fucked the girl you went out with?”

 

Your jaw hung, furious that these two were embarrassing you with an audience, but before you could tell them off, there was a metallic groan and a bright, blinding flash.

 

Bendy and the college boy recoiled with shrieks, blinking stupidly.

 

“You're both pretty,” sneered the newcomer, his voice static like it came from a TV. The light dimmed to comfortable glow resting upon his savior, Allison. “Are we leaving or not?”

 

It was Norman. Norman was the third person Joey experimented on? Allowing your eyes to adjust after the flicker, you searched for your former co-worker, expecting another pair of amber eyes…

 

A mass of wires and a projector reel stared back. You leaped away, startled, but Norman -- the Projectionist -- laughed at your surprise.

 

“Yeah, I know,” he acknowledged his appearance. “I was never the best-looking, but…”

 

Thomas, unfazed, examined his old friend. “At least you were better-looking than this. Joey's fault?”

 

“Yup,” the Projectionist confirmed. “I stuck around for his nighttime meetings for a while, just to watch, but he figured I saw too much. Hence…” He knocked the side of his boxy, metal head, and the light pouring from the projector reel shimmered. “I was thinking about helping (Y/N). I mean, I'm not fond of…” The look he gave you and Bendy and your brushing fingertips said enough, so he went on, “But I wasn't planning on letting Joey ‘sacrifice’ someone ‘cause his kid can't keep it in his pants.” He paused. “Or lack of. We're lucky Allison and Boris found us.”

 

“(Y/N) found me,” said Thomas, and he was almost… proud. You drew strength from his confidence. “I just got Joey's book and everything. So… are we all on the same page?”

 

“The same page of what?” spat the college boy. His companion wheezed at his side.

 

Allison answered before Bendy could screech at him. “Getting out. I told you three. We're going to go destroy the Ink Machine so that this can never happen again, and then we're leaving.”

 

“And you expect me to help?!”

 

“Yes,” snapped Allison. Her eyes burned as she defended you. “Unless you want to stay here and wither away. Be grateful I've dealt with you this long, especially now that I know you basically harassed (Y/N).”

 

Allison had never been so temperamental. You were touched. “You're helping,” you insisted, although you stared determinedly at the old, decrepit ink woman instead of the douche. “All we have to do now is destroy the Ink Machine. We don't have to do anything other than make sure Joey has no way to cause more harm.”

 

“I agree,” said Thomas.

 

“Better than killing him,” added Norman.

 

Boris swallowed heavily and lowered his ears, trembling until Bendy spat to force out an agreeable whine from him. Allison pointed her blade at the inky college boy, and he slumped with a growl, which was good enough for her. The old woman -- the Searcher -- wept.

 

Seven people placed their faith in you, the whoring, impure sacrifice, killer, anxious trainwreck. Ever nonchalant, Bendy rested his pointed chin on your shoulder to put his lips against your ear and whisper, "Is this the moment you make some big motivational speech? Y'know, storytelling device, contrast to Joey's rambling or whatever, inspire me, baby?"

 

"Maybe you should do it for me," you retorted.

 

"Nah. Waste of time, really. Inspire me later. Preferably in bed. I can do all the work if you really want me to, though." Bendy pulled away after discreetly nipping your earlobe, though the college boy still wasn't fond of how close you two were, emotionally and physically. Just to spite the male, Bendy rested his thin hands on your waist while addressing the crowd. "Alrighty then. You ready? Let's go. Ink Machine room, in and out."

 

The cartoon slid an arm around your midsection without waiting for a reply and sauntered off. His hips swayed as he walked, tail stiff and curved like an S. You remained at his side, partly because Allison was hounding to talk to you and demand why you didn't tell her that Bendy could, in fact, have sex, but whether he was good at it was unknown to her and she was dying to find out; partly because the college boy was seething and would shred you if you wandered away from Bendy. Arrogant, purring, the ink demon inclined his head as he led your motley crew through the workshop.

 

You jumped out of your skin when someone tapped your shoulder in the Music Department. Bendy had slowed, wary of the open space, and you whirled around to face Thomas, his eyes glittering in apology for frightening you.

 

“Want this?” he asked, holding out… an ax.

 

_ What the hell? _ you thought and recoiled in apprehension.

 

Patient, Thomas explained, “Allison took Bendy's sword, so I figured you might want something. Just in case. This was sitting against a wall when I doubled back to grab a pipe for myself.”

 

Bendy tilted his head when he heard his name, face twisted in annoyance until he saw the ax. It was fascinating to watch his narrowed optics blow into moons. Whipping back around, he cooed into the shell of your ear again, “I've got a thing for broads with axes, too.”

 

You thumped his chest and took Thomas’ offering with a grateful half-smile before the ink demon whisked you down a nearby hall. Your apprehension billowed. These halls were so familiar, so empty, dust bunnies scurrying across the floor and ink splashing at your feet. Heavy the ax lay in your hand, heavy as your mounting anxiety and the dust laying on your lungs. Bendy's pace quickened until his arm slid away from your waist and his tail streamed, leaving you to chase him alongside Allison.

 

“I hope you know that I'm gonna bother you later no matter how you try avoiding me,” she gasped, breathless from the silent dash.

 

“I know,” you shot back. “Until then, you can think about how Bendy's about this big.” You held your arms up about nine inches apart and put on an extra burst of speed to pull ahead, your friend's laugh and ex-boyfriend's bubbling growl following you in a farewell.

 

Bendy hesitated before entering the welcoming room where he had hollered at Joey about a thousand lifetimes ago. The evidence of their carnage remained in Joey's blood staining the floor and the extinguished, discarded candles with which the cultists had greeted you.

 

And Shawn.

 

Joey couldn’t have allowed the toy maker live after disobeying him. They fought. Someone had to have won.

 

Yet it shocked you to see Shawn’s slumping carcass, beaten to an unrecognizable pulp and clothes shredded. Thomas’ breath hitched, and Norman’s light dimmed as they skirted past their deceased co-worker. Death tickled your nostrils, but you held your breath until you disappeared down another hallway.

 

Thomas paused to tug on the door leading to the employee break-room, finding it locked, to his surprise.

 

“I hope he got them out,” he fretted. “I don’t know why the door would be locked, but…”

 

Bendy deemed his anxiety as unworthy of a response and grunted, although you could tell that the ink demon too was succumbing to worry. Again, he wouldn’t appreciate you fussing over him, but you clung to him as he approached the Ink Machine. The cartoon crooned and tapped his forehead to yours.

 

_ It’s not over yet, _ you reminded yourself to keep from melting into him, bringing yourself to the present where the floorboards creaked and the hallway took a sharp turn, leading you to the Ink Machine.

 

The Machine groaned against its chains and swayed. Bendy released you to brace his forearms against the banister overlooking the room, grim determination twisting his face. The sudden urge to poke the sabertooth-like fang caught on his lip overcame you, but you withheld yourself since such a silly gesture would be inappropriate when approaching the end.

 

The college boy trembled before the Machine. The inky fossil whimpered. The Projectionist’s light shuddered and died -- he was, for lack of a better term, closing his eyes. The three gazed upon the dreary, intimidating room where they passed, not to move on, but to return, trapped, fighting for freedom.

 

A bird caught in a cat’s claws.

 

“How do you expect us to destroy that?” challenged Boris, throwing out a paw for emphasis, hackles on end.

 

“Cut the chains,” said Bendy. “Someone can go up there, cut ‘em, and we’ll let it fall and do the work for us. (Y/N)?”

 

You jolted to attention when the ink demon asked for you. Twisting the ax in your hand, you peeped, “Yeah?”

 

His eyes were warm like molten onyx when he inclined his head to you. “You can either give me the ax to me or climb up there yourself. Or give the ax to dickhead -- I won’t feel bad if he falls.”

 

The college boy bristled at the reference. Bendy turned to lean on the railing, his arms thrown over the edge, and purred, “And for the record, I do have genitals. They’re functional and aesthetically pleasing.”

 

“Thanks for letting us know,” bit Thomas before the two could argue again. “But you’re right that we have to cut it somehow. I’m not fond of someone climbing up there since yeah, they might fall, but… If you’re sure, (Y/N). If not, I can do it if you don’t want to.”

 

“Or I can,” offered Allison as well.

 

“I said I would first,” the ink demon snapped, annoyed he wasn’t special for wanting to help you.

 

“Stop that,” you snapped when he hissed threateningly. “You can't do it because you’re hurt, and I don’t want anyone else going up there. I don’t even want to. I’d throw this,” you heaved your ax, “up there if I could, but since I doubt any of us can aim…”

 

A protesting whine came from Bendy. “Ah, c'mon, I'd understand not climbing, but not throwing something? You underestimate me,” he drawled, rolling back around to face the Ink Machine. “Like I said, in and ou-reow!”

 

The banister snapped and Bendy sailed over the side when Joey barreled into him, icy eyes wild and burning brighter than the blood staining his ruffled clothes. They crashed to the floor, and although any human would be dazed after such a plummet, Joey rolled with the ink demon, screeching, unfazed and ferocious.

 

Over Joey hollering in his face, Bendy heard you cry his name, though more shrieks drowned out the call. A wave of employees following their leader converged upon your ragtag bunch. Panic consumed you, so you did the only logical thing: you heaved your ax and buried it into the skull of the nearest worker, then yanked it out, a spurt of blood following. The impact knocked them off their feet, and they crumpled, allowing a dozen more to take their place.

 

“This is going well!” shouted Allison when she slashed her way to you, pressing her back against yours.

 

“This isn't what I wanted!” you howled and sobbed.

 

“Why would anyone want this?” she retorted. A worker screeched and gagged when she plunged her blade into their gut, and they retreated. “It’s fine, (Y/N)! No one can blame you! Just keep them away from Bendy and the Ink Machine!”

 

“Right,” you agreed, although exhaustion weakened your limbs and blurred your vision. You glanced down to where Bendy grappled with his creator, spitting furiously, throwing Joey across the room only for the animator to return and batter his horns. Dark gray blossomed around his eye where Joey had socked him. His muscles gleamed sepia, and Bendy turned, catching your gaze, his jaw falling to form a yowl, but Joey cut him off with a well-aimed blow to his cheek. The ink demon averted his attention to snarl at Joey and bowl him over, snapping for his neck.

 

“Faggot,” the ink demon choked out between Joey’s thin fingers smothering him and the palm on his throat.

 

“At least I’m not a human’s whore,” he sneered.

 

“Aw, you forever alone?” mocked Bendy, his fangs snagging Joey’s hand. The animator reeled back with a shriek -- Bendy had caught the tattered flesh around the two clean holes he made earlier.

 

Drew lacked a witty response, so he gnashed his teeth and bowled his creation over, sending them both dangerously close to the yawning pit underneath the Ink Machine. Panicked, Bendy kicked the animator away, wild eyes searching the ledge. Sickening relief flooded the cartoon devil when he saw your back as you faced away from him, Allison still at your side. Your ax and her blade gleamed silver, sticky with blood. Thomas’ dull pipe caught his gaze, and Bendy glanced at him to see a worker collapse after the repairman smashed his skull. The Projectionist had no weapon, although blinding anyone who came near him sufficed. They formed a circle around the two ink creatures battering feebly at their attackers -- Bendy made a mental note to harass that prick for being a pussy later.

 

If he was even able to.

 

Boris, being the coward he was, had fled, much to Bendy's fury, but he redirected his anger to pummeling Joey and keeping himself away from the cliff. His muscles (and Joey) screamed in protest as he forced Joey down, shattering his nose and clawing at his face until his eye swelled shut, oozing blood. The frosty slit his optic had become stared at the ink demon malignantly. Joey threw Bendy off before he could rearrange his features, chest heaving, and they resumed their previous tussle dangerously close to the edge.

 

The cultists swarmed you despite the deceased heap at your feet. You were no closer to your goal than you had been at the beginning of the night. Tears glistened on your cheeks, catching Bendy's eye though Joey's punches. Your group may have been outnumbered, but this… you were being overrun. This entire time, Joey knew and followed you here, but Bendy and his heightened senses were too busy drinking in your scent, memorizing your form and all of your human quirks to notice.

 

The ink demon's eyes burned, hot, jet-black dripping down his hollow cheeks in contrast the clear liquid glittering like stars on your eyelashes. He peered at Joey screaming through his fuzzy exhaustion, and his horns smacked against the floor when they rolled, closing in on the pit. His abdomen burned, and, glancing down, Bendy saw the dark stain bloom over his bandages. Joey dug his knee into the wound, drawing a gasp from the ink demon.

 

This wasn't working -- this wouldn't work. Bendy would die at Joey’s hands, you as a sacrifice, and the workers would delight in disemboweling your allies...

 

This had to end. You had to get out  _ now _ . Although his injury had burst and cascaded him with a wave of pain and mind-numbing hormones, Bendy could always heal. You couldn't. You were just a human. And yet you were fighting for your life -- for  _ him _ .

 

Bendy visually searched for you again, falling on the defensive to keep Joey from doing any more damage. Luckily, you and Allison had rotated so that you now faced the ink demon, and your eyes locked, two exhausted, pain-filled gazes in a sea of death.

 

“Go!” yowled Bendy as Joey grabbed one of his horns and yanked on it, dragging him back. “Just go!”

 

He could find you again. Later, when he disposed of Joey. Every step you took astride each other during your trips to the city was imprinted in his memory.

 

Your simmering expression said it all, though Joey was the first to voice it. “You think she’s leaving?” he said in a hiss to rival Bendy’s. “After all of this? I’m surprised you’d even let her go when you tried so hard to be together.” He spat the last word out as if it was acid, a condemnation of every happy couple reminding him of the best friend he lost. Joey’s blood-caked nails dug into Bendy’s shoulders. “And especially after making her yours. Tell me, Bendy: did any of your other affairs beg for you like she did?”

 

The ink demon exploded. He bucked wildly, flinging Joey off, then whirled on him with a furious screeching roar. Drew cried out when he went flying, sprawled out on the floor, his legs dangling over the sheer drop. He scrambled to safe ground only for Bendy to pounce on him, screaming slurs and mocking him, devoid of love or care, his own friend leaving him, “Henry wouldn’t love a cock jockey like you anyway…”

 

Bendy’s newfound vigor inspired you to heave your ax and continue hacking, fighting through the tears. If Joey collapsed, so too would his crooked empire. It would all end with his life, if you just kept fighting for Bendy, don’t leave, you wouldn’t leave, no matter what he said, “please don’t leave me.”

 

The employee approaching you screamed before you could embed your weapon in their forehead. Confused, you followed their gaze to where Bendy, in all of his unbridled, bloody rage heaved, towering over a panicked Joey, at the very edge of the of the precipice. Bendy lunged, and with his impact Joey threw his arms out , grasping at thin air as he toppled over.

 

A triumphant hiss sounded as Bendy kicked away from where his creator stood, prepared to bolt and terrify the leaderless cultists or slaughter them.

 

But a pale, thin hand shot out from the bottomless depths and wrapped around the ink demon’s ankle before he could leap.

 

Joey couldn’t hold onto the edge forever, but he could at least drag someone down with him.

 

Horror consumed the ink demon’s expression. He thrashed, kicked, threw a fit, but Joey dragged him toward the darkness, determined to make his creation suffer the same damnation if he refused to be a star.

 

Bendy tried shouting your name, and he reached for you, pleading, but he toppled over the edge.

 

And

 

           then

 

                      he

 

                             was

 

                                    _falling._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and i fall and i fall and i fall and i fall and i fall


End file.
